Major Tom Sachariason served as the operations officer (S3) for the 27th Trans Battalion in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from August 2005 until June 2006. Unlike previous deployments, the battalion had a predetermined predeployment training schedule including individual-level, team-level, company-level and battalion-level tasks, which Sachariason found to be very beneficial. Sachariason talks about the movement into Kuwait and additional training the battalion received. Sachariason was stationed at LSA Anaconda near Balad and was in charge of the day-to-day movement control and distribution mission. He also had the opportunity to work with contractors and overseeing contract issues, which provided challenges during the course of his deployment. Sachariason worked with members of the US Air Force and US Marines to complete tasking in a timely and efficient manner. He also had the opportunity to work with Iraqi units and the Polish and Ukrainian military. The handoff to Sachariason's replacement went smooth and he redeployed back to Germany earlier than the battalion to become the S3 for the 16th Sustainment Brigade. Looking back at the deployment, Sachariason enjoyed the opportunity to expand his knowledge of distribution operations and movement control operations, and how both of those pieces come together.

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