MAJ Michael Willis serves as fire support officer (FSO) with the V Corps Artillery in the initial invasion of Iraq during 2003 and 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this March 2010 interview, MAJ Willis discusses his role coordinating targeting for the simultaneous air and ground campaigns, his change of duty to take command of Bravo Battery, 1-27 Field Artillery (FA) midway through his deployment, and his mission to clear and destroy munitions to prevent their use in improvised explosive devices (IEDs). MAJ Willis concludes his interview with the observation, "It was very eye-opening to me to see how poor and how little an average Iraqi family had compared to what I was going back to. The more I worked with them the more it became apparent to me the gap between our country and that part of the world. I really can't say if there is a right or a wrong with how we get involved in these countries but there is a lot of need there. I think the more they realize how much we have and they don't have we're going to be expected to keep helping for a long time."

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