Immediately following Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), there appeared to be a resurgence of insurgent activity in Afghanistan," said Major James DeOre, a company commander in the 75th Ranger Regiment, "so our unit was deployed to target Taliban and al-Qaeda forces operating in northeast Afghanistan. At that point," he explained, "the coalition had been focused and had defeated the organized resistance in the majority of the country and we were just targeting local areas suspected of harboring elements of both forces. At that time, we're talking about some of the more remote areas in Afghanistan and they had not seen other US or coalition forces in that area yet." In this interview, DeOre discusses his 2004 deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and his experiences operating in areas north and east of Kabul, a region, he said, characterized by "extreme environmental conditions." Prior to getting into theater, DeOre's company lacked what he considered adequate intelligence concerning enemy forces, calling it a "very undeveloped process at that point." Initially focused on conducting raids and other types of direct-action, high-intensity combat operations, at some point they transitioned to "interacting closely with the local indigenous personnel" and saw much better results. DeOre discusses why you "absolutely have to have some legitimate Afghan participation in any of the operations you do there" and, in addition, touches on his company's hiring of local laborers to help move equipment, which went a long way towards establishing themselves in an area. He also talks about interpreter assets, finding weapons caches that suggested that someone was "saving up for the next apocalypse," the challenges inherent in incorporating outside elements into one's unit, and expresses how he was "overcome by the ability and capability of the soldiers." In addition, DeOre discusses counterinsurgency in both theory and practice, efforts to empower the local government, the problems that arise from Afghanistan's porous borders, and offers some thoughtful insights into the whole cultural awareness piece. "We do have great friends throughout the world," he observes, "but not everybody looks at Americans the same way and it takes a long time to figure that out. It's not arrogance and I would hesitate even now to call Americans arrogant, but we do look at the world through rose-colored glasses. 'Why wouldn't they love us? Why wouldn't they appreciate what we've done for them?' Well," concludes DeOre, "it doesn't hurt, especially when we look at ourselves and find areas to criticize ourselves on."

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