Lieutenant Colonel Scott Efflandt was the executive officer and then later deputy commander of 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom from approximately January 2004 until March 2005. Since 2nd Brigade deployed three months ahead of its parent unit, they reported initially to the Combined Forces Land Component Command, then to the 1st Armored Division once they arrived in Baghdad, and eventually to 1st Cavalry Division. Prior to deployment, 2nd Brigade conducted convoy live fire training, close quarters marksmanship training and improvised explosive device training. The brigade, which deployed with one tank company and two Bradley companies, requested additional armor early on as they realized the insurgency was much stronger than originally anticipated. Their request was denied by higher headquarters which had concluded that coalition forces were continuing to establish greater and greater control. 2nd Brigade moved to Fallujah and spent three months working with the Marine Corps prior to moving south to Babil. Efflandt hired local civilians to perform vehicle maintenance and experienced some logistical shortcomings including tank tracks. He knew his vehicles were experiencing excessive wear and tear and estimated that one year in Iraq was equivalent to six years at home. His vehicle maintenance personnel were sufficiently cross-trained to allow tank and Bradley mechanics to work on Humvees whenever necessary. 2nd Brigade had US Army Reserve civil affairs teams, psychological operations teams and a Marine Corps battalion attached. In addition, the brigade had both Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade-and-Below and Blue Force Tracker, systems Efflandt speaks very highly of. As new units were attached to the brigade, they could not be easily added to the existing system, and he also experienced difficulty with communications architecture and frequency management. What's more, Efflandt became frustrated with a lack of up-to-date training caused by the fact that lessons learned were typically classified. By the time new information got declassified and disseminated, it was irrelevant. During their stay in Iraq, members of 2nd Brigade worked with a variety of NGOs, local/regional politicians, the Iraqi National Guard, US Special Forces, and used Commander's Emergency Response Program funds extensively.

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