Colonel Robert Catalanotti, serving with the 98th Division (Institutional Training), was the mobilization commander at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, from September through December 2004 and then the base commander at Taji, Iraq, from December 2004 through October 2005. In this interview, he begins by saying that the mobilization training at Camp Atterbury went smoothly, despite the presence of three chains of command, because personal relations between commanders were very good. Catalanotti states that some of the mobilization training, such as combat lifesaving and nuclear, biological and chemical subjects, were very good, while "Iraq-specific things like Arabic language training were their weakest point." Originally slated to be chief of staff for the 98th Division, shortly after arriving in Iraq he found himself assigned as commander of the largest Iraqi base. "Everything that happened or didn't happen on Taji I was accountable for," he said. Upon arrival at Taji, Catalanotti found that his most immediate concern was force protection, and he eventually ended up with Iraqi soldiers for base security. At a base with 15,000 Iraqis and a mere 500 Americans operating on it, he had to deal with the largest entry control point in Iraq, "and the volume of vehicles, soldiers, pedestrians and workers coming into that base was enormous." Although generally positive about the support provided by contractors to his base, Catalanotti voiced concerns over contractors being paid for services not done. Looking back, though, he states that his time in Iraq "was probably the best experience I've had in my life." He closes by explaining that the redeployment home of Reserve soldiers is a very difficult transition because there's uncertainty about expectations from the unit, issues about employment, families not always being understanding about a soldier's duty status, government paychecks ending within 30 days, and a general feeling of anxiety.

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