From April 2007 to March 2008, Major Jason Montgomery served as the maneuver advisor for a military transition team (MiTT) assigned to the 9th Iraqi Army Division headquarters in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Montgomery was notified of this deployment five months in advance which gave him ample time to prepare. Montgomery completed his predeployment training at Fort Riley and discusses the experience. The team made the movement to Kuwait where they completed ten days of training and additional training at the Phoenix Academy. The team then traveled to FOB Rustamiyah in southeastern Baghdad and lived on the FOB with their Iraqi counterparts. They completed a handoff and were introduced to each member's individual counterpart. The team identified areas where they would like to improve the Iraqi Army's skills and also incorporated the skills the Iraqi Army would like to improve. Montgomery divided his time coordinating with different agencies, advising his Iraqi officer and interfacing one on one to develop personal relationships. During this deployment, interpreter support was much better than his previous deployment. After they completed the handoff, the MiTT made their movement back to the States and began outprocessing for four days at Fort Riley. Montgomery discusses how the MiTT family readiness group at Fort Riley was able to assist the families with family separation and keeping them informed. Montgomery offers his lessons learned and recommendations for future members on a MiTT.

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