MAJ Ryan Yedlinsky served as a Black Hawk pilot in Fallujah, Iraq during 2003 and 2004 and as a combat advisor on a stability transition team (STT) in Diwaniyah, Iraq during 2009 and 2010 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this March 2011 interview, MAJ Yedlinksy discusses the chaos of his first deployment, the confusion surrounding the chain of command and supply when he served attached to an advise and assist brigade (AAB), and the improvements he noted in Iraq between those two deployments. MAJ Yedlinsky concludes his interview with the suggestion, "Personally, I would recommend that anybody who is getting ready to do any kind of deployment to an Arab nation reads The Seven Pillars of Wisdom; its gospel. T.E. Lawrence was a smart dude. Even if you don't agree with it, at least you'll understand it. That helps."

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