About his June 2003 through February 2004 deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Major Todd Hourihan describes himself as having had to "hitchhike" both into and out of war. He begins this interview by telling how his original orders sending him to Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) headquarters in Kuwait were abruptly changed in country by a lieutenant colonel on the spot who gave him a verbal order to go to Iraq and report to an unnamed and unspecified palace. After a number of twists and turns and a great deal of confusion, Hourihan eventually found himself at Camp Victory in Baghdad and managed to secure himself a job as the C6 operations officer for Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) 7. In this position, he said, "Being a captain and dealing with divisions" presented his most daunting challenge, as did working in a joint as well as combined environment. Regarding the latter, Hourihan observed that many, himself included, felt that an American soldier's life was unofficially considered only a third as valuable as a coalition soldier's when it came to the suffering of casualties. He talks about the myriad difficulties associated with coalition warfare, not the least of which involves issues of equal (or perceived unequal) equipping in terms of communications and other assets. Hourihan also discusses the problems of getting radios repaired in theater, the invaluable support provided by BAE contractors, and closes his interview with the story of his painful redeployment - which ended on a positive note, however, thanks to General George Casey and in spite of another lieutenant colonel, this one from the 101st, whom Hourihan said he hoped got relieved based on her treatment of him and his fellow group of individual returning soldiers.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited