Major Kerry Dennard served in the 82nd Division Artillery as the S4 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and deployed on 1 September 2003. During this deployment, Dennard was in charge of logistics and ensured the movement of equipment and soldiers. Once the division arrived in Kuwait, they attended training focusing on integration, marksmanship, survival and how to adjust to the desert environment. Dennard moved forward, into Champion Main, Ramadi, Iraq, with the advance party to set up the reception area and areas for the division to work. The division's mission was to capture enemy ammunition caches in the Anbar region and transport the ammunition to an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) site operated by the US Army for proper destruction. Also attached to the division was a civil affairs unit that routinely interacted with the locals in the villages. Other job functions Dennard was responsible for was running the logistics for the base - running water, ensuring the dining facility was operational, coordinating with host nation for support, and security of the forward operating base (FOB). He coordinated the request for supplies through civilian contracting at Taqaddum Airfield. The FOB had walls surrounding the base to assist in base security. The FOB did have one attack by three individuals on foot and mortar attacks about once a week. Convoys would also be hit with IEDs. Dennard believes one of the successes, during the course of the deployment, was convincing the Iraqi population that the US military was not there to take their country over, instead they were there to assist the population.

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