From February 2006 through February 2007 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Major Greg Lueders served on a military transition team (MiTT) tasked to coach, teach and mentor the 3rd Motor Transport Regiment (MTR) of the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, based at the al-Kasik Military Training Base west of Mosul. In this interview, he discusses the predeployment training he and his MiTT received at Fort Hood; additional in-theater training at the Phoenix Academy; his personal responsibilities of advising the Iraqi 1st Company commander and the regimental executive officer; his other duty of serving as team XO; as well as the various types of missions the MTR would perform: everything from supply runs to personnel transport to and from the Baghdad area. Lueders also talks about the Iraqi logistics system, the high willingness of his predominantly Kurdish MTR to accept missions, the types of vehicles they had, and how well they performed the missions they were assigned. "The Iraqis did the planning, execution and kept the comms," he said. "Our job was to monitor them. There was one time towards the end of the tour where we did go out with them because it was directed that we do so, but I considered them very experienced. They were one of the top MTRs and among the most proficient. They conducted operations very professionally." Lueders closes his interview by discussing cultural relations issues and the lengths to which his MiTT went to create good rapport with the Iraqi soldiers.

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