Nuristan PRT Corpsman connects with Dots

Photo by U.S. Air Force 2^nd Lt Natassia Cherne

 
Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs 

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Dailey, a corpsman from Rutherford, N.J., of, shares his box of candy dots with a local village boy, Dec. 2. Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team conducted a key leader’s engagement with the village leaders of the Gambah village to discuss economic development. (U.S. Air Force photo/ 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

Walking Hand in Hand

Courtesy Photo by: U.S. Army Spc. Michael Hahnebohm from the 3^rd Platoon, 984^th Military Police Company, 759^th MP Battalion

Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team - Public Affairs

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Todd Cellars, Squadron Leader for the 3^rdPlatoon, 984^th Military Police Company, 759^th MP Battalion, from Warren, Ohio, walks hand in hand with a little girl in the Alingar District, Dec. 1. The 759^th MP Battalion was conducting a key leader’s engagement and identifying the personal in the Afghanistan National Police in the local area. (U.S. Army/photo Spc. Michael Hahnebohm) (RELEASED)
 

Celebrating Eid and sports one volleyball game at a time

Photos by Air Force 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne

Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team - Public Affairs

091128-AF-2222C-062: NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Locals from the Lowkar and Dareng villages play in a volleyball tournament to celebrate Eid and to encourage children to play sports instead of doing drugs, Nov. 28. The volleyball tournament held in the Lowkar village had an attendance of about 200 people, featuring 32 teams made up from villagers from the Alingar and Nurgram districts. (U.S. Air Force/photo 2nd Lt Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

091128-AF-2222C-111: NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Navy Lt j. g. Stacy Gross, from Lakeville, Minn., the information operations officer for the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team, speaks with Said Rahman, the chairman of architecture from Lowkar village, about future construction projects for the Alingar District during the volleyball tournament to celebrate Eid and to encourage children to play sports instead of doing drugs, Nov. 28. The volleyball tournament held in the Lowkar village had an attendance of about 200 people, featuring 32 teams made up from villagers from the Alingar and Nurgram Districts of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. The Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team provided Abdual Raqeeb, the event organizer from Nangarach, radios and volleyball to hand out during the five day tournament. (U.S. Air Force/photo 2nd Lt Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

NURISTAN PRT CIVIL AFFAIRS TEAM WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS OF AFGHAN PEOPLE

Story and photos by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins
Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team - Public Affairs

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – U.S. servicemembers from the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team traveled to Forward Operating Base Blessing in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province to rebuild a connection with local Afghans.

“We were sent here to FOB Blessing to represent the central valley of Waygul and Wama,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. John McGlocklin, noncommissioned officer in charge of the Nuristan civil affairs team at FOB Blessing. “Because the people here don’t always have the means to travel all the way to FOB Kalagush, they have easy accessibility to the PRT with us here.”

The civil affairs team has been at FOB Blessing since mid-July and is attempting to develop relations with the community by giving them the means to initiate small self-help projects, such as water canals and storage tanks for clean water and better overall sanitation conditions, according to U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Burgess, Nuristan PRT civil affairs specialist.

So far, 23 projects valued at more than $70,000 have been distributed throughout various villages across the Waygul and Wama area. PRT members believe a major reason Afghans join with the Taliban is the severe lack of money. Employing Afghans with self help projects gives them economic development and teaches them alternative avenues to make money other than farming.

“There are five major valleys in the northern portion of the Task Force Lethal Area of Operation, and the Afghanistan PRTs impact two of them…Kunar and Nuristan. The civil affairs team here interacts with the people much more and communicates with the sub-governor almost weekly. That’s very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Brian Pearl, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Division commander at FOB Blessing. “They literally tie government and development together, from village, to district, to overall provincial level.”

When the local people saw Coalition Forces wanting to help, a spark ignited in them and they were more welcoming. Governors, village elders and shura leaders meet with the team often to discuss the progress of current village projects and the plans for future development in the area.

“We are the only ones here in this area,” McGlocklin said. “We need to remain accessible to the Nuristanis so they can receive the help they need from us.”

“The biggest thing is the interaction with village elders and local government in the Waygul and Wama valley,” Pearl said. “Once you empower the government, then you can reestablish relationship with the people. Without the PRT, the government and the community would be separate.”

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin Brzezniak, left, from Matawan, N.J., and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. John McGlocklin from San Antonio, Texas, with the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team, sit with Muhammad Osman, the sub-governor of the Waygul District of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, and shura members during a meeting to discuss ongoing projects in the area, on Forward Operating Base Blessing, Nov. 18. Osman hires local Afghans to work on PRT-funded projects, and meets with the civil affairs team twice a week to request additional supplies for self-help projects. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

091120-F-7498H-025: NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – A child from the Waygul District of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province load bags of cement provided by the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team into a truck on Forward Operating Base Blessing, Nov. 20. Muhammad Osman, the sub-governor of the district, met with the civil affairs team two days prior to request additional supplies for self-help projects. Once he has a signed self-help project request form from the villagers, the form is sent to the PRT commander for funding and support. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

Nuristan PRT visits Alingar schools

Photos by SrA Ashley Hawkins

Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team- Public Affairs

 

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Army Spc. Jason Dixon Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team civil affairs team member, hands out a self help project request form to a boys' high school teacher while visiting and assessing literacy within the Alingar District of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, Nov. 24. The PRT routinely visits local villages to promote education and literacy within the area, and help provide a stable economy for the people. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Teachers of the girls' high school show text books and daily lessons to the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team, while team members visited and handed out self-help project request forms to the villagers of the Alingar District of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, Nov. 24. The PRT routinely visits local villages to promote education and literacy within the area, and help provide a stable economy for the people. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Servicemembers from the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team talk with the girls' high school teachers while visiting and handing out self-help project request forms to the villagers of the Alingar District of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, Nov. 24. The PRT routinely visits local villages to promote education and literacy within the area, and help provide a stable economy for the people. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Army Sgt. David Starkey with the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team security force guards a classroom while the team talks with teachers of the Alingar District girls' high school in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, Nov. 24. The PRT routinely visits local villages to promote education and literacy within the area, and help provide a stable economy for the people. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

Happy Thanksgiving

From all the servicemembers at Kalagush, happy Thanksgiving and we wish we could have celebrated with our loved ones.

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Army Capt. Erik Nerdalen, from Hicksville, N.Y., carves a turkey before serving Thanksgiving dinner to civilians and troops on Forward Operating Base Kalagush, Nov. 26. It is the 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment's tradition for senior non-commissioned officers and officers to serve their Soldiers during the holiday season to show their appreciation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins)

(U.S. Air Force photo/ 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

(U.S. Air Force photo/ 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

 

(U.S. Air Force photo/ 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

 

(U.S. Air Force photo/ 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)

Nuristan PRT battles H1N1 misinformation

By Air Force 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne
Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team servicemembers took to the airways, Nov. 19, to combat misinformation put out by anti-Afghan forces about the growing H1N1 flu virus epidemic in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. U.S. Navy Lt.  Jennifer Dreiling, from

McLean, Va., the senior medical officer, and U.S. Navy Lt j. g. Stacy Gross, from Lakeville, MN, the information operations officer for the PRT broadcasted the public health messages about the virus on Radio Kalagush, a U.S.-funded Afghan radio station that broadcasts from Forward Operating Base Kalagush. 

According to Gross, the messages informed people how to react to the common cold or H1N1, signs and symptoms, and what to do if they suspect they have H1N1.

AAF in Nuristan province have been spreading misinformation on how the H1N1 is contracted and where it comes from.

 “Part of the aim of the messages themselves is to dispel those rumors like you can contract the disease by eating pork or that H1N1 was brought to Afghanistan and spread by Coalition Forces,” Dreiling said.

According to Gross and Dreiling, every radio message that Nuristan PRT puts out with useful information about the virus, is another opportunity to take power away from the enemy’s information campaign.

Dreiling felt that the radio messages were successful because, “the radio messages makes the people feel like they have control of their own situation, and it’s empowering for them to know what’s going on around them.”

The Nuristan PRT releases public health radio messages at least once a week, and the radio stations replays them throughout the week.

NURISTAN, PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Navy Lt.  Jennifer Dreiling, from McLean, Va., senior medical officer for the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team, records a radio message on Radio Kalagush, a U.S.-funded Afghan radio station that broadcasts from Forward Operating Base Kalagush, in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, educating locals about the H1N1 flu virus, Nov. 19. (U.S. Air Force/photo 2^nd Lt Natassia Cherne) (RELEASED)