The Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-Business Development team at FOB Wright, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of 734th Agri-Business Development Team.
By Col. Craig Bargfrede, commander, Iowa National Guard‘s 734th Agri-Business Development Team. The 734th conducts agricultural activities in Kunar province, that expand legal agribusiness, services, markets and ag education to reduce poverty, create jobs and build the capacity of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Greetings from Kunar, Afghanistan!
Most of the Dirt Warriors have been here for two months now. We have all settled into our quarters and into our routines here on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Wright. Our daily schedules find us doing a multitude of tasks both here on the FOB and outside the wire while on missions.
Each member of the team pitches in and helps out wherever they are needed. The attitude, commitment and work ethic of each one of our soldiers are absolutely a testament to the strong Iowa values that have been instilled in us.
This attitude and commitment to duty was truly seen earlier this month when 11 of our Dirt warriors gladly stepped forward in a time of need, to give blood in order to help a wounded soldier who was being treated here on the FOB. According to the medical personnel working here on the FOB, the actions of these fine soldiers most definitely saved this soldiers life.
Another key event which took place this past month was the national parliamentary elections. Although we as the ADT did not have a direct role in the elections, we were able to see many of the comments written on our Facebook page regarding one of the local Afghan nationals which works with us, “Words can’t describe how proud this man was that he was able to vote and did so safely. It brought a tear to my eye to hear the glee in his voice.” This is an example of why we are here helping the Afghan people build their own nation. One that is free from insurgency.
What we have found since we first started our work here is that there are Afghan citizens and officials who have a high level of agricultural and veterinary expertise. This has caused us to shift our approach from training individual Afghan farmers to mentoring and empowering already skilled Afghans, helping the Afghan people help one another.
Given the complexities of Afghanistan, this work is neither simple nor easy. But we have already made important strides in building the relationships necessary to carry our mission forward. We look forward to sharing more of our story with you in the months ahead.
Dirt Warriors!
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