Afghanistan — Month One

Well, I have now been in Afghanistan for a month and a half … and this country is as beautiful, amazing and more troubled than I remembered. However, I feel that although we have a long way to go, progress is being made. As you may recall from my post in October, my role here is the lead engineer on a provincial reconstruction team for Kapisa and Parwan provinces. My team is made up of military from the Air Force and Army, as well as civilians from the Departments of State, and Agriculture, and the US Agency for International Development. Our role is clear: help the Afghan people by helping to improve Afghan government, infrastructure and rule of law all to enable economic development and prosperity. At the same time, Afghan and coalition forces provide the requisite security.
I truly believe once people believe that their government is legitimate and enduring, trust their court system, have the ability to earn a licit salary Afghans will end this conflict themselves. I work everyday with Afghans and their enduring hope for the future gives me reason to work as hard as possible to help them realize their dream of a safe, stable, and successful homeland.
This is truly a worthy cause that the international community needs to see through to completion.

You can see from this picture just how ruggedly beautiful this country is.

This picture is a little out of order, but it’s from the flight in on a C-17. You can see varying levels of anticipation in everyone’s face.

This is Lionel directing the operation. We were out making sure our weapons still worked.

SGT Durden (on the right) always has a smile, great attitude and is a member of the hard working security force for our team.

JePe (pronounced Hep Pay) checking our perimeter.

Yep, the weapons still work.


This is probably the most common form of commerce in Afghanistan. A small booth along the road. As you can imagine, the better the road, the better the access to markets. As such, we’re very focused on building and improving roads.

This vendor is selling my favorite Afghan produce, pomegranates. These tasty treats were first cultivated in this area and are grown extensively in the area. One of our projects was to help connect farmers in our area to local markets. Economist Article on Pomegranates This fruit has the potential to be a cash crop and replace poppy production in some parts of the country. We’re also working on two saffron development projects with a similar goal.

Many remnants of the Soviet War still remain.

You can see why passable roads are important.

These guys are the ones who ensure we’re safe as we go around the countryside.


I’m sure you recognize the up-armored HMMWV on the left, but the vehicle on the right is an MRAP and provides even more protection.

A typical Afghan village.

This is an image from one of the austere FOBs we stayed at. Although it was small, the campfire was a nice touch.

The guys had fun sitting around telling stories. The Afghan National Army also has some soldiers here. So, I enjoyed having a traditional meal with their commander. He has some very interesting ideas on how to solve the problems of his country. As you might imagine, he believes that security is the number one problem (I didn’t disagree). However, to fix it, he recommended, “instead of sending another 20,000 American troops, use that same money and train 100,000 more Afghan soldiers. We know our country and with enough people, we can get it done right. I am willing to die for my country. I don’t want you to have to.” Although the solution isn’t viable, it was a very interesting conversation. Keep in mind, this whole exchange was done through an interpreter. Although I am learning Dari (Afghan Persian … the language of many people in Afghanistan), I am not even close to fluent. So, without the help of these unsung heroes, we couldn’t hope to succeed.

This is Naghlu Dam and provides a great deal of power to Kabul. Unfortunately, it doesn’t power any of the surrounding region, a region that is particularly unstable. Someone at the Embassy told me, “this war can’t be won in Kabul, but it can be lost in the provinces.” Perhaps we can renovate this hyrdo-electric power source and use part of the power to electrify the surrounding valleys.

Although the electricity would be great for this area, water is its lifeblood. So, the proper management of that resource is paramount.

It is a very pretty lake. The water and arid area make a stark contrast.

This is one of our projects, building a road where there was none before. Although there is heavy equipment working on the road, we like to see a large local workforce on the project. It means they have a greater sense of ownership and provides a job for a large number of people.

You can see one of the village elders points in the direction of his house.

We always attract a lot of attention. Our security force provides a vigilant overwatch.

A pretty sunset over Naghlu lake.

Our convoy.





We love this billboard because it says so much, so well.

I love this picture of a young Afghan.
There are many more pictures that I will include in the next post. Also, these images are from several people on the team and the Chief was kind enough to help me clean up the images.
In case you can’t tell, I really enjoy being here. Although I wish I could spend the holidays with Anna and the rest of my friends and family, I feel this is a good place to be. My team and I are doing our best to help the Afghans and that is a good reason to be away from everyone.
So, until the next post…
–Jim