Major Stuart Farris deployed to Afghanistan in April 2003 as "the assistant to the assistant S3" in 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group and later assumed the role as an SF detachment commander. While on staff, he was the night battle captain, acting as the battalion commander's RTO during several high-priority missions. After about a month, he took command of a team - ODA 341 - and moved out to Helmand Province, the largest producer of opium in Afghanistan. During his time in Afghanistan, he encountered little resistance. They did limited engagement operations and were focused on direct action missions, while leaving the opium trade alone. There was no Afghan military yet, so they used 50 to 60 indigenous fighters as extra security when going out on patrols. The lessons learned he took away from this rotation were that you have to have a plan with an objective you can work towards, that everyone is on the same team, and you have to integrate your enablers into your operations. This is the first of three interviews conducted with Farris about his three separate deployments to Afghanistan between 2003 and 2005.

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