Fast, flexible and fierce.

That's how Lt. Col. Don Hill describes the U.S. military's strategy in the Iraq war. It put a premium on swift, precise air and ground attacks and timely intelligence, he said.

But technology isn't everything in warfare.

Hill, a professor of military science and Gulf War veteran, supervises the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at UC Davis. He said the war's outcome came down to the most human of all equations -- "hearts and minds." That's a term Hill recalls from hearing about the Vietnam War, and it's integral to military success, he added.

"The key was the support of the Iraqi people," Hill said. "We had to gain their confidence we were toppling Saddam Hussein's regime once and for all."

Hill said while watching the war unfold on television he looked beyond the immediate action to see whether the Iraqis in the background were smiling or showing positive body language about the presence of American troops. This reaction wasn't clear in the initial phase of the campaign, but Hill said the Iraqi people gradually revealed their sentiments -- when it was safe to do so.

"The more ground we occupied," said Hill, "the more convincing we became to the Iraqis. I think taking Baghdad like we did was the pivotal point."

He admitted it looked "questionable for a few days" when Iraqi paramilitary forces, like the Saddam Fedayeen, were firing at troops along the supply lines. This resort to guerrilla-style warfare showed that the Iraqis had learned from the first Gulf War that their conventional military forces were no match for the U.S. in the open field, Hill said.

Hill said the important question was whether the Iraqi people would give safe harbor to the Fedayeen the way the Vietnamese people did for the Viet Cong. Or the way the Somalians did for guerrilla fighters. The answer -- no.

"In Basra, for example, the Fedayeen found themselves in a bad position because the Iraqi people weren't helping them," he said.

For Hill, this was a much different war than the one he served in. In his ROTC program, he uses his combat experience to help the cadets at UC Davis understand why their job in the military is important. And he can draw parallels for his students to the war in Iraq.

"Its mission of dislodging a government and driving across hundreds of miles to do so was tougher than ejecting the Iraqi military from Kuwait."

He said the Iraq war emphasized speed and maneuverability over the use of large-scale forces. "This wasn't a war of attrition in which we would suffer lots of casualties in wearing the enemy down. It was about moving quickly and powerfully."

As for the "hearts and minds" war, Hill said the military found that dropping leaflets to the Iraqi people laid some of the groundwork in discouraging support of Hussein's regime.

He also noted that military planners this time around had many more concerns about civilians in the line of fire than in the 1990 war when much of the conflict took place in open desert. Fortunately, Hill said, the scenario of all-out urban warfare never materialized in Baghdad.

"Decapitation" strikes against Iraqi leadership targets also proved critical, Hill believes. "The U.S. military has worked really hard in the last 30 years to get inside the enemy's decision-making process. By identifying these targets, we were able to make the regime collapse sooner rather than later."

However, the danger is far from over, Hill noted. The U.S. troops in Iraq will be dealing with all kinds of pressures, from looting and crime to sporadic resistance.

"They're in a tough position right now," Hill said.

While the Army trains its soldiers for peacekeeping and "stabilization efforts," Hill explained, these operations are much different than combat and far more difficult than many critics realize. "The soldier asks, 'To what extent do we get involved?' when they see somebody breaking the law," he said.

Hill said the best approach is what the U.S. is advocating right now -- get the Iraqi police and local authorities back to work policing their own people. "We want to hand their country back to them as soon as possible," he said.

The new Pentagon policy of "embedding" journalists with military units has helped educate the American public about warfare and the soldierly life, Hill said. This has been another contrast with the first Gulf War, when the military did not provide media access to front-line combat.

"I think they realized that wasn't the way to go," Hill said. "We'll probably see this type of policy continue."

Still, he warns against making too many assumptions through the "embedded" news reports that ultimately lack range in vision. "It's like looking at the war through a straw when there's so much other action happening out of your view. When the troops get back, we'll get the full stories for the good of journalism and history," said Hill.

Some of those stories may come from Aggies themselves.

Hill said at least four students he's worked with in the ROTC program on campus are serving in Iraq. They include John Mitchell ('02), in the 4th Infantry Division; Ken Selby ('01), in the 4th Infantry Division; Phillip Williams ('01), in the 101st Airborne; and Lee Palmer ('01), with a Patriot missile unit in Army air defense. Another former Aggie, Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg ('77) may be there commanding the Patriot missile units, he added.

Hill also will have another Iraqi war veteran coming to campus sometime in the future -- Capt. Russ Meyer of the 101st Airborne, who will serve as one of Hill's ROTC instructors and whose recent combat experience will be valuable to the Davis program, Hill said.

UC Davis currently has 91 students in its Army ROTC program.

Since the Iraqi war started and 9/11, has student interest in a military career increased? Not really, Hill says.

"I'm sure a long-term impact exists, but it is not immediate," he said. "Many ROTC students already decided back in high school or early on in college to make a commitment to the military life," he said.

The biggest challenge for a campus ROTC program is recruiting the "highest quality student possible," said Hill. While his ROTC program will consider any qualified student for entry, students who are leaders, scholars and athletes are most desirable.

"America's soldiers deserve to be led by the best, so that's what we're after," Hill said.