In this September 2014 interview, MAJ Esther Casari, US Army, Military Intelligence, discusses her deployment to Iraq as a Human Intelligence (HUMIT) Team Leader for 319th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion in 2004 through 2005 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). MAJ Casari talks about how she ended up, with no training or experience, being a team leader for a National Guard unit. She describes some of the challenges dealing with National Guardsmen and talks about the challenges of doing a mission with no support. She discusses some the lack of equipment and shares how there was no follow through to determine if they were collecting useful information. She shares a specific memory of worrying about improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with is Soldiers and discusses the handoff to the incoming unit. MAJ Casari closes her interview by stating, "I think that if you know what needs to be done and you have the will to do it, you can do it no matter what."

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