In this January 2013 interview, MAJ Sherri Sharpe, US Army, Aviation, discusses her deployment to Iraq as a flight leader and adjutant for Bravo 159th AVN Regiment in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). MAJ Sharpe talks about her missions of flying equipment, supplies, mail, and personnel around Iraq. She describes her other duties as adjutant and talks morale among the unit that had just come off of an Afghanistan deployment. She discusses the challenges she faced as a female flying and shares how important hero missions were to her unit. MAJ Sharpe closes her interview by stating, "Morale, some people take it for granted . . . The reality is morale is your combat power, because that's what motivates people. It's what gives them energy. It's where they get rejuvenation. If you are keeping them engaged, if you're keeping them happy, if you're finding the little ways, the little nuances you can do to take care of a Soldier . . . When you're happy, you're focused, and when you're focused you don't make the same mistakes, and when you don't make mistakes people don't die. Particularly in my line of work, doing little things to keep morale up . . . It is not just this extra thing. As a leader, it is the thing. I have to keep the Soldiers taken care of so that they will be safer in doing their jobs. It is not that they would intentionally slack off, it's just when you have other stressors in the back of your mind, you miss other little details that in our line of work could be catastrophic."

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