Interview with CSM Cory McCarty

Throughout the 1st Infantry Division's February 2004 to March 2005 deployment to Tikrit, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Command Sergeant Major Cory McCarty - a 30-year Army infantryman - served as the division CSM. In this interview, he discusses a wide range of issues, including predeployment training and equipping; his work maintaining division standards in theater; the assistance he provided the 1st ID commander, Major General John Batiste; the benefits of having been "more experienced in peacekeeping operations than any other division in the Army"; and generally the myriad challenges inherent in 1st ID being responsible for an area the size of West Virginia. In addition, McCarty focuses in great detail on combat operations conducted in Najaf in April 2004 and, especially, Operation Baton Rouge: the October 2004 combined U.S. and Iraqi anti-insurgent offensive in the city of Samarra. What's more, he also shares his experiences working with Iraqi security forces and coalition partners; his visibility on (and assessment of) the January 2005 Iraqi national elections; some of the major morale and soldier issues he dealt with; and his evaluation of the various National Guard and Reserve units attached to 1st ID. Reflecting on his tour, McCarty - a veteran of previous combat deployments to Operations Just Cause, Desert Storm and Support Hope, as well as three Kosovo rotations - observed that "if the leadership doesn't get out there, get on the road and do things with the soldiers, then the soldiers think you're scared and they question why they should be out there if their leader is too scared to be out there. My Humvees hit seven IEDs while I was there," he added, "and everyone knew it. In fact, it became a running joke: 'Who can get more IEDs than the division sergeant major?'"