In this second of two interviews, Major Todd Terral talks about commanding the 606th Transportation Detachment at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, from March 2005 through March 2006 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He discusses the value of having a veteran first sergeant, how team-building was the most important portion of the predeployment training, his great surprise at the mission he and his team were expected to fulfill, and how obtaining useful information from Afghanistan is hampered by too many things being classified. He also talks about how units would not understand that not everything within their battlespace belonged to them, how his detachment received the best combat service support ever in Afghanistan, trying to explain to units that the rest of the US government does not function like a deployed military unit, and how the Marines were always good to work with because there were never any problems with their cargo. Terral closes the interview by stating how glad he was to have commanded soldiers as hard-working and flexible as he did.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited