From January 2005 through January 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Lieutenant Colonel Rich Creed served as the operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor - part of 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division - in the Ba'qubah area of responsibility. Interestingly, Creed held this particular battalion S3 job for a total of 37 months, including the unit's year in Iraq. In this interview, he talks about 2-34 Armor's predeployment training, its handoff in country with the 82nd Engineers, and the battalion's operations conducted out of FOB Gabe in the Diyala Province, which included route security missions; counterinsurgency ops both with and without Iraqi security forces; training of Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police forces; the overseeing of city council meetings and other local government activities; support to special ops teams and raids of their own; aircraft and cache recovery missions, as well as lethal and non-lethal targeting. Creed also describes how his brigade was "probably on the cutting edge of implementation of the MiTT concept" and shares the various reasons behind their success in this area. With respect to combat operations, Creed explained the 2-34 Armor motto thusly: "We're not going to fight anybody twice. If you want to fight, we'll fight, but we're only going to fight you once. We're going to run you down and we're going to kill or capture you. It's your choice." Another motto, this one the brigade's, was, "Be professional, be polite, and be prepared to kill people." Additionally, Creed praises the level and amount of support received both from his chain of command and from the home front; talks at length about a number of Shi'a/Shi'a conflicts he saw and had to deal with; identifies the many leadership challenges he faced; and tells how a Boston Globe reporter "betrayed and burned" his battalion with a total "hit piece" of an article. He also explains why he felt a drawdown of troops was a terrible idea and why MiTTs should be "resourced as parts of American outfits." He closes by talking about his own family's support of the Global War on Terrorism and the fact that his two brothers have also served in Iraq. "The Creeds are in this thing with both feet," he said, "and are committed to the whole deal."

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