Major Paul Berg served as the personnel officer for 7-101 Aviation Battalion, a Chinook battalion, when he was notified in November 2001 that he was going to be deployed on 180-day orders in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in January 2002. Berg had two months from the time he was notified of the deployment until when he deployed, which did not allow much time for predeployment training. The battalion had been conducting security missions around Fort Campbell when they were notified, and the remainder of their time was focused on administration, ensuring they had the necessary amounts of equipment, and preparing the aircraft for movement. The battalion did not have any equipment to fall into, so they brought any items they believed they'd need to get them by until the supply system was well established. Berg stayed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the entire time, except for a week during Operation Anaconda when he flew to Bagram Airfield to become the S1. While he was the S1 for Operation Anaconda, he was tasked with accountability, personnel, awards, officer evaluation reports (OERs), noncommissioned officer evaluation reports (NCOERs), and worked with the public affairs officers (PAOs). Berg coordinated with the PAO to allow an outlet for the soldiers to tell their stories to the media. As a result, one of the embedded media reports, Sean Naylor, wrote Not a Good Day to Die. CNN also aired stories and personal accounts of the pilots during Operation Anaconda. During a four-month period, Berg wrote 470 awards for those taking part in Operation Anaconda. He was also responsible for the manifests and accountability of each soldier's whereabouts if they had to change aircraft at the last moment. The casualty reporting process was extremely difficult for Berg. He learned quickly, if there was an accident, to pull the phone lines and internet access to prevent soldiers from relaying the incident back to the family member before the necessary military branch could properly notify the family. Over time, the amount of computers set up for internet connections improved and they received the ability for video teleconferences. Challenges for Berg included adjusting to the weather and the high altitude. During the course of this deployment, Berg learned to be prepared and learned a lot about leadership and how to lead people. He was able to take these lessons back to the US and knew what needed to be completed in order to prepare his new unit which had not yet deployed. When his new company did deploy, they were very prepared.

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