Serving in Iraq:

Iraq - Almost two months into his deployment, State Representative Brown is working with the soldiers that the company he is assigned to will replace in the Baghdad area.  During this transition period that the Army calls the “left seat/right seat ride time,” outgoing soldiers will train the incoming soldiers. 

The old way of replacing soldiers was either one at a time or all at once without a true transition time to exchange information.  For the last two decades, the Army now mobilizes and deploys soldiers to transition into authority and responsibility, so that lessons learned can be lessons that are retained.  During this shared time on the ground, the outgoing soldiers can pass on and teach the incoming soldiers vital information dealing with the current situation and other operational knowledge.  This is done so hard learned lessons don't have to be repeated.  Since Civil Affairs soldiers spend a lot of time outside the "wire" performing missions almost daily in their area of operations (AOR), the left seat/right seat ride time is especially important.  This time is also used to give updates on current and ongoing projects from the last rotation and also to give the most current and up-to-date intelligence on insurgents and the terrorist activities in the AOR.