In this interview MAJ Mack McCarthy, Infantry, discusses his 15-month deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in 2003. MAJ McCarthy brings up his pre-deployment training, issues the organization faced in leaving so quickly, and their arrival into theater. Once in Iraq MAJ McCarthy and the unit were sent to Hawijah, Iraq where they maintained a forward operating base (FOB) and worked in the local area. Halfway through the deployment, MAJ McCarthy was lucky enough to receive a company command. Although in another battalion, MAJ McCarthy discusses the seamless integration of himself and his wife into the folds of the new battalion, the operations they conducted in the area specifically during the elections, and the ease in which his wife picked up the family readiness group (FRG). MAJ McCarthy concludes his interview by covering some lessons learned which include, getting a better operational picture of what is going on on the ground prior to arriving in theater and trying to understand the operational environment and the people of the area a little better where he and his unit would be working.

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