From March through June 2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Dan Williamson served as the officer in charge of a mobile training team (MTT) tasked with teaching combat service support members of Afghan National Army kandaks how to be transporters and to drive trucks. In this first of two interviews covering his Global War on Terrorism deployments, Williamson discusses the training he and his MTT provided initially at Camp Policharki near Kabul and, later, at Camp Julien - a French-Canadian facility. "Most of these guys had never driven anything and less than one or two percent of them could read and write," he said, "so it was challenging." Williamson also expresses high praise for the interpreters assigned to his MTT, talks about how they navigated Afghan culture. He additionally discusses the train-the-trainer and master driver programs they put on, his additional duty as personnel officer for all the MTTs, and his experiences living on the French-Canadian camp and interacting with his mainly French-speaking hosts. Williamson closes his interview by addressing the language barrier issue and recommending that MTTs be provided armored vehicles and M4s instead of Ford Rangers and M16s.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited