Major Brian Ellis served as an HHB commander with 2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from February 2004 until February 2005. In this interview, he discusses the battalion's predeployment training at the Yakama Training Center and at Fort Lewis prior to making the movement over. As it turned out, the majority of the soldiers were not going to forward deploy into Iraq but stay in Kuwait to provide security at the sea port of debarkation (SPOD) and man a roving patrol and a quick reaction force. After receiving a short RIP/TOA, there were immediate and noticeable changes in the security being provided at the port. The unit worked closely with the Navy, Coast Guard and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior to continually improve the port security. Ellis discusses what a typical day for him consisted of and how he divided up the different tasks to ensure there was full coverage. Ellis discusses the challenges he faced being the commander and the misleading first impressions the active duty component would have once they realized Ellis' unit was from the National Guard. Family separation was also a challenge since his soldiers were in different locations in Kuwait and Iraq. Ellis also offers his lessons learned and recommendations.

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