Iowa ADT hits ground running in Afghanistan

By Capt. Peter Shinn
Iowa National Guard

Col. Craig Bargfrede, Commander of the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-Business Development Team, meets with Gov. Syed Fazlullah Wahidi at the governor's compound in Asadabad, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in early August.
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KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (8/12/10) -- Members of the Iowa National Guard’s 734th Agri-Business Development Team have wasted no time in establishing themselves as a strong, reliable partner for the government and agricultural officials of Kunar Province.

Since the team’s advance party arrived last month, ADT leaders have held meetings with provincial Gov. Syed Fazlullah Wahidi and his minister, conducted assessments of ongoing agricultural projects in Kunar and even sat in on a briefing for Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of International Security Assistance Forces, on the ADT’s activities here.

Col. Craig Bargrfrede, the ADT commander, went to the Kunar governor’s compound and met with him just days after arriving in Afghanistan.

“I thought it was very important to meet with Governor Wahidi and his staff as soon as we could,” Bargfrede said. “One of our key goals here is to improve the government’s ability to provide agricultural services to its citizens. We can’t do that without a strong relationship with the provincial leadership team.”

Lt Col. Neil Stockfleth, officer-in-charge of the team’s agriculture section, and Lt. Col. Dave Lewis, the ADT’s executive officer, began building relationships at a lower level even sooner.

The pair traveled to the governor’s compound for a meeting with provincial agricultural officials at the beginning of August.

Stockfleth said the Afghans he met with were highly prepared and came to the meeting with a long list of projects on which the ADT and provincial government could work together.

“I was very impressed with the meeting,” he said. “These guys had done their homework. They knew what current technology is and what’s available and they sure brought it up.”

Stockfleth noted that advanced agricultural technology projects might not be the most appropriate to begin with in Kunar Province.

For example, while some provincial agricultural officials expressed interest in improving local livestock bloodlines through artificial insemination, Stockfleth pointed out that improving basic livestock nutrition would yield more immediate dividends for most agricultural producers in the province.

“We’ll work with them toward working on the basics and then moving down the continuum toward more advanced techniques,” he said.

The Iowa ADT is taking over from the California National Guard’s 40th Infantry ADT, which has been working in Kunar Province for the better part of the last year.

When Petraeus recently visited the area, the 40th ADT commander briefed him on the ADT concept, and Lewis was present.

“General Petraeus seemed very interested in this aspect of the counterinsurgency campaign,” he said.

The focus of counterinsurgency is protecting the population, which is why the Iowa ADT is working closely with civilian agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the State Department.

The Iowa ADT is under the operational control of the Combined Joint Task Force 101, also known as Task Force Bastogne. Kate Byrnes, the senior civilian representative to the task force, visited the Iowa ADT at Forward Operating Base Wright.

“Col. Bargfrede’s team is made up of National Guard Soldiers and Airmen with extensive civilian agricultural experience,” she said. “Building the capacity of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is truly an interagency effort, and he understands that.”

The Iowa ADT began arriving here last month. The team will be in place for the better part of the next year before being replaced by another National Guard ADT.

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