Iowa Guard agribusiness unit sows knowledge, reaps Afghanis' trust

Cultivating trust and confidence were as important as improving crop yields and livestock health on the Iowa National Guard's recent agricultural development mission in Afghanistan, team leaders say.

Both objectives - improved agricultural practices and trust in Americans - will help Afghanistan resist pressure from the Taliban and other insurgents and to stand on its own when U.S. troops withdraw from the war-torn Middle Eastern country next year, the leaders said.

The 64 Iowa troops helped change the Afghan people's perception of Americans, said Col. Craig Bargfrede, commander of the Guard's 734th Agribusiness Development Team, also known as the “Dirt Warriors.”

By the time their 10-month mission ended in mid-June, the Afghan people had come to regard the Iowans as “honest, hardworking people who care about them and want to help them build a positive life for themselves,” said Bargfrede, a 31-year Guard member from Ankeny.

“Just our being there and what they felt about us is much more important than how many animals we vaccinated,” said Maj. Loren Adams, a New Liberty veterinarian who led the team's effort to vaccinate 41,000 goats, sheep and other livestock.

The team's public affairs officer, Air Force Capt. Peter Shinn, said he thought the Iowans' mentoring of local officials - helping them become effective public servants and positive representatives of the Afghanistan government - also will pay long-term dividends.

In several of the programs, “we provided infrastructure and support so the Afghans themselves could deliver much needed and appreciated services,” Shinn said.

Though Afghan farmers tend one-acre plots with little, if any, mechanization, “they are no different than Iowa farmers in that you have to show them how new techniques will help them become more productive,” said Lt. Col. Neil Stockfleth, the officer in charge of the team's ag section.

To that end, the half-dozen demonstration farms established by the ag team will provide a continuing resource for improving the subsistence farmers' standard of living, said Stockfleth, an Iowa Air National Guard officer from Sergeant Bluff.

Bargfrede said the vaccination program, which was conducted in cooperation with local veterinarians, yielded “a truly amazing improvement in the health of livestock while we were there.”

“We set some things in motion that will really pay dividends in the future,” Stockfleth said.

The ag team concentrated its efforts in Kunar Province, in northeast Afghanistan, close to the Pakistan border - an area with “a lot of Taliban influence and plenty of shooting going on,” Stockfleth said.

Despite frequent mortar shelling of the ag group's compound, Stockfleth and other unit leaders said they never felt their personal safety was in jeopardy.

The pervasive Taliban and al-Qaida influence intimidated some Afghans and made them reluctant to be seen with Americans, Bargfrede said.

Stockfleth said some farmers also were put off by the sheer size of the ag team. Because of security concerns, “we had to have at least four trucks and 25 to 30 troops to go talk to a farmer. It was like a circus coming to town,” he said.

Capt. Scott Rottingham, 30, who farms east of Waterloo, said agriculture in Kunar Province bears little resemblance to Iowa's large-scale production of meat and grain. Rottingham described the Kunar soil as “moon dust,” with little organic matter and the consistency of powder.

Even so, he said, the Afghans grow State Fair-quality fruits, vegetables and nuts.

Stockfleth said some of the unit's Afghan associates said their exposure to the Iowans changed their generally negative perception of Americans. “They found we were trustworthy and honorable - the opposite of what they had thought,” he said.

“All I can say is that I left with a really positive feeling that we had made a good, lasting impression on the farmers and officials we met,” Adams said.

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