In February 2003, US Army Major Jason Lewallen joined 4 Regiment Army Air Corps (UK) as an exchange officer. During his more than three years of service with this British unit, he served variously as the operations officer for 659 Squadron as well as 669 Squadron, and most notably deployed with them from February to July 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom where he commanded a Lynx Mark 9 detachment - based at Basra International Airport and operating throughout the southeastern British sector - as part of Joint Helicopter Force-Iraq. In this interview, Lewallen begins by discussing the training he underwent with 4 Regiment in England, remarking on among other things the restrictions they were under due to substantially less real estate as compared to the United States; the British Army practice of using NCOs as pilots and instructors, as opposed to the American reliance on warrant officers and commissioned officers; and some key doctrinal differences between US and British helicopter units, such as the latter's strict observance of what they call the "threat band" and taking care not to fly in the airspace between 50 and 2,000 feet off the ground due to the risk of small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. He then moves into a specific discussion of his Iraq tour and service as an aircraft commander, or as the British call it, a pilot in command. Lewallen was in one of the combat crews and logged roughly 500 hours, flying almost daily while in country providing general aviation support in the UK area of operations. He supported the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment at Al Amara on numerous operations, conducted multinational operations near As Samawah, and did regular photo reconnaissance and sniper support missions for ground maneuver elements. The biggest challenge Lewallen faced was the oppressive 120-degree heat. "When it would reach that temperature," he said, "we had to stop flight operations because it would exceed the capabilities of the aircraft. During the middle of the day, we wouldn't have the capacity to use that airframe at all to do anything." Lewallen also talks about the biggest differences he observed between British and American Army aviation, those he observed between British and American soldiers in general, and closes by saying that the Brits are a "great ally and a very professional army. I was very confident while I was there so I would definitely deploy back with them."

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