Interview with Maj Matthew Yandura

A former presidential correspondence writer in the White House of President George W. Bush while serving in the US Army Reserves, Major Matthew Yandura spent his 2003-2004 deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom initially as a plans officer with the 11th PSYOP Battalion and then as special assistant to Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt - the deputy director of operations and the military spokesman for MNC-I - and speechwriter for the commanding general of MNF-I: first, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, and then General George Casey. In this interview, he discusses his remarkably unique deployed experiences, as well as his own unique background; his insider’s view of these two commanding generals, especially Casey whom Yandura describes in very praiseful terms; the challenge posed in the Army by what he calls “rank-ism”; his experiences working with Middle Eastern media and his thoughts more broadly on how we can develop more “media-savvy soldiers and officers”; and also the important differences between psychological and information operations.