MAJ Stephanie Sanderson served as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Cavalry Division (CAV) at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Prosperity during 2006 and 2007 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this February 2009 interview, MAJ Sanderson discusses the challenges of deploying as a direct commissionee and the deficiencies in pre-deployment training se faces because of that, her initiative to more directly involve paralegals in the work of the JAG Corps in order to maintain the high operations tempo (OPTEMPO), and her work with various Iraqi committees, including the Women's and Children's Committee. MAJ Sanderson observes, "One of the biggest problems I saw was that in many cases when you transition with a unit, you're starting the fight all over again and you're not reaping the benefits of the command that was before you if you're not careful with the transition. Unfortunately, because of our culture, we're too busy. 'This is the answer and this is the key and this is how we're going to change things.' If progress was made from the unit before you and you come in and you don't capitalize on that, but instead just try to change things, you're starting all over again."

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