MAJ Mark Anders served as battery commander with the 2-20 Field Artillery Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division (ID) in Taji, Iraq during 2003 and 2004, as the Assistant Fire Support Coordinator (AFSCOORD) for the 25th ID at Contingency Operating Base (COB) Speicher during 2006 and 2007, and as battalion operations officer (S3) at COB Speicher during 2008 and 2009, all in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this November 2010 interview, MAJ Anders discusses his mission on his first deployment of discovering and dismantling weapons caches, the disappointment and frustration at getting extended to help with the surge on his second deployment, and the substantial improvements he witnessed in Iraq during his third deployment. MAJ Anders concludes his interview with the observation, "In a perfect world I'd say get away from 12-month deployments. If we had the forces and could go to six or seven month deployments like the Marines do I think that would relieve a lot of stress and pressure on the force. It sucks. Deploying for a year? It ain't fun."

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