Major Chuck Palmer deployed to Iraq as commander of Charlie Company, 16th Signal Battalion in 2003. He found out on 31 March 2003 that he would be assuming command of Charlie Company on 3 April, only 15 days before leaving for Kuwait and Iraq. Once arriving in theater, his unit pushed forward to Anbar Province in western Iraq. His unit operated out of Fallujah and Ramadi for the first six months, but also had units at Al Asad Airbase as well. He had teams throughout the area supporting units to ensure their communication capabilities remained intact. In September, most of his unit was consolidated in Al Asad but there were still support teams left in Fallujah and Ramadi to support 3rd ACR combat units. In March 2004, he redeployed his unit days before the Al Anbar Province uprising. The one recommendation he would make to the Army would be to deploy units at full strength.

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