Sergio Kochergin begins his testimony by speaking of how restrictive the ROE were at the outset of his tour. As the soldiers got more and more tired and as the soldiers lost more and more friends, however, the ROE became more and more lax, eventually ending at "use your judgement".

Sergio's roommate was on suicide watch for three months before they deployed to Iraq; three or four days into their deployment, that roommate shot himself. From the sound of the quivering in his voice, it seems like Sergio is somewhat jealous of that man, for he would never feel the way that Sergio does now.