In this first of two interviews regarding his Global War on Terrorism experiences, Major Gregory Trahan discusses his command of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan beginning in January 2003. Initially given responsibility for securing the battalion headquarters at Khowst, Trahan's company also would on occasion provide elements to assist their sister company (Charlie) in the conduct of missions outside the firebase. He discusses the force protection patrols they did linked to FOB Salerno security, his liaisons with local Afghan commanders, the medical civic action projects done in nearby villages, as well as his work with interpreters - including one instance in particular involving the disarming of an impromptu Afghan militia wherein his interpreter "made an already difficult situation a little more difficult." Trahan, in addition, talks about his move to FOB Shkin in March 2003 and the ethnic/cultural challenges that resulted; the reception he and his men got from Afghan civilians; the challenges of getting "timely, accurate intelligence" on the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces they were tasked with killing or capturing; as well as, and finally, the circumstances surrounding his leaving theater early: namely the 25 April 2003 firefight in which he was shot five times, emergency evacuated from the battlefield and sent ultimately to rehabilitate at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where, after a great deal of physical therapy and seven separate surgeries, he was able to assume command of a new company - this time the 82nd Airborne Division's Headquarters Company - in August 2003, and later take that company to Iraq.

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