Major Betsy Atherton found out in August 2004 that she would be going to Afghanistan as the personnel officer for the 10th Sustainment Brigade. She departed in February 2006 and set up in Bagram as part of a joint logistics command. She served as the brigade S1 until August when she was moved to 10th Mountain Division Headquarters J1 where she was the plans and operations officer. She was responsible for writing the personnel annex for any operation conducted as well as awards and casualty reporting for the theater. Casualty reporting was her toughest and most rewarding job she did while there. While the higher-ups always wanted the information immediately, she had to ensure it was correct before sending it up. This deployment helped her develop her problem-solving skills.

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