Major Stuart Farris deployed to Afghanistan for the second time in May 2004 as commander of ODA 341 in 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group. Once in Afghanistan, he moved his detachment to the village of Zormat in the Paktia Province. Based on lessons learned from his first deployment, he developed a plan with clear objectives and an endstate to work towards. His team conducted numerous successful kinetic missions capturing or killing militant extremists and, throughout their tour, placed a heavy focus on local leader engagement. One of the major successes in support of counterinsurgency operations during this rotation was utilizing CERP funds to rebuild the town mosque. With his second deployment came increased bureaucracy and, at times, he felt as if he were fighting it more than the enemy. "We need to give [commanders] clear guidance, clear intent and their right and left limits," he said, "and let them execute." This is the second of three interviews conducted with Farris regarding his three separate deployments to Afghanistan between 2003 and 2005.

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