Captain Anthony Yeatts assumed command of Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment during Operation Iraqi Freedom in September 2003. During his tour, his unit was tasked with a variety of missions not normally associated with the artillery, including manning checkpoints, clearing buildings and training the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. Most of this interview revolves around the role his battery played in supporting Operation Rifles Blitz around the Al Qaim border region in November 2003. Replacing a Paladin unit that normally provided direct support to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, for Rifles Blitz Yeatts found his unit charged with two distinctly different missions, with one platoon providing fire support and another platoon working at a detention center. During the entire operation, his battery fired around 200 rounds and, as he described the targeting, "About half of it was more show of force. That first day we were just trying to wake them up. We were just letting them sit there for a while to let them think about what was going on before everything really kicked off." Regarding the platoon at the detention center, Yeatts explained: "My guys are artillery guys; we blow things up. We really weren't trained for this kind of mission, so there was a lot of on-the-job training for how you deal with these detainees." Needless to say, he added, "It was a learning experience." Among the problems encountered during Rifles Blitz, "The biggest issue I took back to my command afterwards was the communications piece." Yeatts had radios which allowed him to communicate with all the local 3rd ACR units, but he had to use a limited satellite system to talk to his battalion headquarters. As such, "Talking back to my battalion headquarters was very difficult with the whole two-sentence thing. You'd send 20 notes to give a situation report." He closes the interview by commenting on their later handoff to the Marines. Yeatts said that while his battery's handoff went well and a Marine sniper team "helped a ton" with local security, he observed very different experiences with other units in his area.

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