Major Tim Vail served as the deputy Gulf Region engineer for the Transatlantic Programs Center with the US Army Corps of Engineers in support of the Global War on Terrorism from January 2007 until January 2008. Vail had completed his master's degree in construction management when he was notified of this deployment. During the predeployment training, he was able to meet some of the people he would be deploying with. He attended US Army Corps of Engineer training and individual military training prior to the movement over and was able to fall back on his college-level courses to further prepare him for this deployment. Vail drew his equipment once he arrived in Kuwait and there was no handoff because this position was a recent addition to the division. Vail discusses the situation once he arrived in theater and his first perceptions. During Vail's deployment, he would frequently travel to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab of Emirates and Oman. His primary mission was to assist with construction in support of ARCENT, CENTAF, NAVCENT and the host nation. A few months into the deployment, Vail became the acting Gulf Region engineer, which increased his operational tempo and responsibilities. Vail did not have a need for interpreters since the contractors the US Army Corps of Engineers hires must meet the requirement of not only having a knowledge of the region but must also speak English. In this two-part interview, Vail also talks about the challenges that arose with the convoys and how he was able to overcome those challenges. During the handoff, the division was undergoing reorganization to improve the construction support of the US Army Corps of Engineers to the region. The US Army Corps of Engineers are unique because they have the ability to operate under the chief of mission which would allow them to continue to provide military sales cases, even if all US military forces would redeploy out of theater. Vail believes this deployment was a great learning experience after earning his second master's degree, which allowed him to apply the courses he learned in college and continue his professional growth. Vail offers his lessons learned and recommendations based on this deployment. Vail moved his family to be near other family members prior to the deployment. He was able to call home every night, which made family separation easier to manage.

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