From March 2004 through February 2005 with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment - part of 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division - Sergeant Major Ron Pruyt served as the operations sergeant major (and at times simultaneously as the battalion command sergeant major as well), and was responsible for managing the tactical operations center, the tactical command post when it was out, and for synchronizing the battle staff. In this interview focusing principally on two major engagements - April 2004’s Battle of Easter Sunday and October 2004’s Operation Baton Rouge, both in the Iraqi city of Samarra - Pruyt discusses his role and that of Task Force 1-26 in great detail. With respect to the former, he covers a number of key events, including a mass desertion of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the concomitant loss of the task force’s primary intelligence gathering means; an ambush that resulted in several US casualties; and the myriad challenges of fighting in an urban environment. What’s more, Pruyt said: I think one of the hardest things to get soldiers to realize is that there are going to be people out there who really want to kill you. Their focus is to kill you. And if they kill you and they happen to kill some kids who are standing by too, they still killed you; it’s a victory for them. As Americans, we don’t want to believe that there’s somebody out there who actually wants to kill us, especially when we don’t think we’ve done anything to them. So I think we were trying to drive that point home. Transitioning to Baton Rouge, Pruyt provides a wealth of information and insights pertaining to the lead-up, execution and aftermath of this brigade-plus operation. In addition, he discusses in more general terms the heightened responsibilities placed upon noncommissioned officers during his yearlong deployment and stresses an important lesson learned, that you don’t have to tie a rank to a responsibility. Pruyt also insists that everybody, even the supply clerk, has to know what’s going on, how to navigate and how to be a warrior - because everybody is a warrior in a combat environment.
