In this December 2012 interview, MAJ Melvin Porter, US Army, Signal; discusses his deployment to Afghanistan as a company commander for 3-61 Cavalry (CAV) in 2009 through 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). MAJ Porter talks about his first couple of days into country as he was getting set up and received direct attack resulting in casualties from the outgoing unit. He describes the challenges from that initial attack with preparing his Soldiers for the memorial ceremonies. He talks about changing out of command four months into the deployment and describes how his Soldiers took the transition. He shares the interaction he had with the locals and talks about some challenges with receiving necessary logistical supplies for his missions. He discusses communication back home while he was deployed and he closes his interview by stating, "Going into another country, knowing as much as you can about its history and societies is something that doesn't maybe get the attention it deserves."

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