In this December 2013 interview, MAJ Bob Stone, US Army, Infantry; discusses his deployment to Iraq as a company commander for 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, 1-8 Infantry in 2010 through 2011 in support of Operation New Dawn (OND). MAJ Stone talks about his missions of base defense and upkeep of the forward operating base (FOB). He describes how his Soldiers dealt with improvised rocket assisted mortars (IRAM) threats. He discusses some difficult leadership challenges he faced and shares how he was able to boost morale for his Soldiers. He discusses the handoff to the incoming brigade and shares successes of this deployment. MAJ Stone closes his interview by stating, " We always focus our attention on the Army first, which is understandable because we are an army, but it seems like if we're going to focus on the population, we should focus on who is securing it -- which is the police -- and then the borders of course, to make the security situation better."

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