1SG Ernie Kurica has an unknown criminal in his ranks, and that Soldier has removed a 9mm pistol from the Company Armsroom. After locking down the Company, questioning suspects, and checking paperwork, 1SG Kurica and his Commander must make a decision: Choose to pursue justice knowing that weapon may never be seen again or pursue recovery of the weapon by offering amnesty, and let the criminal walk.

After raiding a house in Iraq, CPT Dan Baringer faced a significant challenge finding the proponent for enemy activity in a local neighborhood. He suspected a young local national of the insurgent activity but lacked the necessary proof to know for sure. The boy looked fourteen or fifteen years old, but CPT Baringer's intuition told him that there was more to the boy's story than the information being shared with him from other local nationals. His unit's policy for detainees was that they could not hold or process a detainee under the age of sixteen. After calling back to his battalion TOC, CPT Baringer was told that he could bring this person back but, "there were going to be repercussions in the community and back at the unit.

LT Ben Melton found his platoon in a difficult position. During an engagement with insurgents, one of the members of his platoon engaged a local national that was fleeing the area. It appeared to the Soldier taking the shot that the local national had a pistol slipped in his belt. The platoon moved up to find that the local national did not have a weapon and was severely wounded in his shoulder. Despite the risk to his platoon and the medical assets, LT Melton made the decision to immediately provide medical care. While making this decision, LT Melton was fully aware that there would be an investigation resulting from this incident.

After gaining contact with the enemy, CPT Jamey Gadoury continued to push to attack a C2 node. One of his tank sections engaged a vehicle that they had improperly identified as an insurgent vehicle. They reported that there were a couple of local civilians down in the street as a result of their gunfire. According to policies and procedures, CPT Gadoury realized that he needed to call this report up to his higher headquarters. Considering the impact of making this call and halting the mission, CPT Gadoury reconsidered. If the call was made, he felt it would have derailed the current mission and the high value target and associated items would be lost. He had a decision to make: call this report up and stop the mission or allow that report to stay at his level and the mission to continue.

SGT Briggs finds himself in a critical shoot/don't shoot, with the lives of his company potentially in the balance. While performing guard duty in one of the perimeter towers, SGT Briggs has been observing a local national waving a white flag and motioning. SGT Briggs attempted to get the man to move to a different location and figure out his intent. Instead, the man jumps over the perimeter wall into the American outpost. Penetrating the perimeter is considered a hostile act, and the Rules of Engagement clearly allow SGT Briggs to take the shot. SGT Briggs has a split second to decide whether this man lives or dies.

SFC Switalski finds himself in every Platoon Sergeant's nightmare: he is consolidating his platoon on the objective and finds that he has two men missing. Do to the Platoon operating in two sections (controlled separately by the PL and PSG,) SFC Switalski's Platoon Leader calls in a '100%' report on his men that appears to be for the entire Platoon. After counting his section, SFC Switalski realizes he is missing two men. He makes the decision to immediately correct the false report to higher and not try and cover up the false report or find the guys quickly on his own.

PV2 Colter describes wanting to get out of the Army any way he can!

LT Reed Markham has a Soldier bleeding out, and no good way to evacuate him. LT Markham's men have just cleared 500 meters of city block on foot, and they are the only ones that know the way in. The planned CASEVAC route is not yet cleared of IED's, driving a vehicle on it risks more lives. The casualty weighs over 300 pounds with his gear. In a moment, LT Markham orders his men to package the Soldier on a SKEDCO and drag him back 500 meters through enemy territory to the safety of the FOB and the aid station. LT Markham weighed life versus mission and life versus lives.

CPT Foreman is an infantry Officer who is serving as the Rear Detachment Commander during his unit's deployment. CPT Foreman had prior service as an enlisted Soldier and had previously been deployed. He describes a situation that arose within the Rear Detachment: Situation: "You can't go into combat wondering if somebody is going to shoot you in the back because they know that you were looking at their wife." "It's time away, or Soldiers getting into a marriage early on, and not understanding and the wife not understanding what they were getting into, and they deploy I get a lot of both sides of it: the Soldier says his wife's sleeping around; the wives coming in and saying their Soldiers are sleeping around in theatre."

LT Kelly Leugers and her platoon were tired and ready to get back to their FOB. They had been on a mission and were a few hundred meters from their ECP. A local national (that turned out to be an Iraqi Army Soldier) flagged down her platoon and explained that a member of their group had been shot in the foot and needed medical attention. LT Leugers had her medic help this Iraqi Army Soldier and put a clean bandage on his foot. She realized that he was still in a lot of pain and needed additional medical attention. LT Leugers made a call to her TOC, reported the situation, and sought guidance regarding what action to take next. They brought the Iraqi man onto the FOB and provided him treatment. Despite the disdain from some folks on the FOB, LT Leugers knew that she had done the right thing.

There are probably a lot of people in my platoon that had the same mindset that I did when I came into the Army. I had a lot of male friends before I came into the military. I was used to the way that they talked and the way that many of them would joke around. I knew how to handle myself and even when the comments were inappropriate, it didn't use to bother me. But, in the Army it is different. And, you don't realize that when the joking is going on continuously, all day, every day that it becomes too much. It's going to wear down on you more than you think it would. It got difficult being around men, all day, everyday. It seems that everybody feeds off of each other. One person will start it by saying something, and it's easy for it to get out of control from there. I let it go for a while. Finally, it had worn me down to much. I wasn't enjoying coming to work and was uncomfortable in my own Platoon.

My team leader and I caught an HVT (high value target). We were not part of the raid element, but we were assigned as the outer cordon element and my squad leader was pretty upset about it. So, he was sitting in the humvee sulking and getting all upset. Instead of saying, "It's the mission, we need to do the right thing" - he was upset about it. So, my team leader and I were out in the courtyard and caught the guy (the HVT) coming over the wall. It was kind of the right place at the right time. And at the end of the day, the Squad Leader has to report to the First Sergeant and he tells him, "my guys were sitting in the humvee sulking, and I was on the other side of this wall and caught this guy. He landed in my lap and I caught him." "He was decorated and given a coin by General Petreaus. That's wrong. The fact that he would lie about it. So, you were put into a situation of - do you lie to cover up for this guy? Where do your loyalties lie?