MAJ Del Monroy served as the intelligence officer (S2) for the 3-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) during 2003 and 2004 in Khowst, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). In this January 2009 interview, MAJ Monroy discusses the challenges of getting all of the intelligence his unit gathered to the right people in a timely manner, the problems dealing with the different tribes of Afghanistan, particularly in regard to interpreters, and his greatest challenge, the lack of personnel. MAJ Monroy imparts his biggest lesson learned: " Without a doubt this deployment served as my education on tactical intelligence and intelligence preparation of the battlefield (IPB). I would say that any battalion S2 needs to master IPB, which is simply gathering all of the information that's given to you, because that is key in Afghanistan. Terrain dictates everything."

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited