In this November 2012 interview, MAJ James Buskirk, US Army, Military Intelligence (MI); talks about volunteering for his deployment to Iraq on a military transition team (MiTT) in 2007 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). MAJ Buskirk starts his interview talking about why he chose the MI branch and notes how rewarding it has been for him. He talks about his pre-deployment training and shares how his team separated into other MiTTs once they arrived in country. He compares his interaction with the National Police Training Team (NPTT) to his interaction with the 8th Iraqi Army. He discusses some difficult challenges he faced with integrating into an already existing team and describes how he overcame that challenge. MAJ Buskirk shares how the surge had a positive impact on his team and he closes his interview by discussing the importance of building relationships Iraqi counterparts, "Instead of going in and assuming anything, build those relationships because they will be more receptive to your suggestions and advice."

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