Interview with Maj Barrett Bernard (Paperback)

During 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division's February 2004 to February 2005 deployment to Iraq, Major Barrett Bernard served as the assistant operations officer in a 250-by-70 kilometer area of responsibility that included the major cities of Tikrit, Samarra and Balad. "I was the AS3 on paper" he explained, "but for the first three months I was there as the brigade commander's traveling ops officer. I sat in Colonel Randy Dragon's Humvee and went everywhere he did, took notes in his meetings, captured do-outs, captured problems. If he had an issue, he'd get it to me and I'd go work it." At other times, Bernard also ran the tactical command post at Logistics Support Area Anaconda, assisted in the assault command post in Samarra and filled in temporarily as the brigade S3. Considering these responsibilities and his close proximity to Colonel Dragon and other senior leaders, he says he couldn't have paid for the education he received in Iraq. "I got a very in depth look at what it takes to command a brigade - not lead it - but command it in combat." In this wide-ranging interview, Bernard additionally discusses the training assistance provided to Iraqi security forces, the preparations for and the actual conduct of the January 2005 national elections, and especially Operation Baton Rouge: the October 2004 US-Iraqi offensive against insurgent forces in the city of Samarra. Bernard shares his perspectives on everything from the shaping operations that preceded the assault to the "immediate impact projects" that followed it - the latter of which, he believes, were what made Baton Rouge so successful. Reflecting on his deployment, Bernard said: "We saw a lot of history and we helped make a lot of history possible. I don't pretend to think that all that stuff happened because we did it; it was going to happen. But we certainly went a long way and did a lot of work towards helping it happen. The security forces, the Army guys and the police forces that stood up, that's the future of that country - and the better off they are, the better off that country will be."