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United Fight: Providing Reconstructive assistance, hope to Afghan wasteland

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stacia Zachary
  • USAFCENT Combat Camera News Team
FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan --  The Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team is steadfast in providing assistance to rebuild Afghanistan as well as give the local Afghans a chance to overcome incredible odds to achieve a foothold back into the economic forefront.

Housed within the walls of a traditional Afghan qalat, a mud and straw compound, on Forward Operating Base Gardez is the Paktya PRT's headquarters. The team's objectives are to identify projects with positive impact on the community as well as give local Afghans the experience and control of conducting these projects themselves.

"We lead the reconstruction efforts for the Afghans in the province," said Maj. Kimberly Riggs, Paktya PRT lead engineer. "Our goal is help build their capacity for project development as well as give (the Afghan people) confidence in their government."

A typical PRT project needs to go through a vetting process before work can begin.

"The Afghans come to us with a lot of requests and we encourage them to submit their ideas through their government agencies," the major said. "Once these ideas are submitted and prioritized, we validate them (and) then civil affairs provides justification for proposed projects. After this we develop a contract and request funding then put the contract up out for bid by local Afghan contractors."

Several requests will come in for each announced project and the PRT engineer section will narrow the candidates down to the top five. The requisite Afghan government agency will then award the contract.

"These projects help strengthen their local economy as well as increase employment opportunities," said Major Riggs. "Once the projects are underway, we conduct (quality assessments), identify last minute changes and make provisions for construction challenges as they pop up."

The Paktya PRT is one of 12 U.S.-led teams in the eastern Afghanistan area. The team is composed of engineers, civil affairs, medics and security forces. Although the main emphasis is to strengthen the Afghan government agencies to take over all aspects of the restoration effort, the PRT teams and the projects they oversee are often subject to insurgent attacks by anti-Afghan forces.

"The country is in desperate need of help," said Capt. Shawn Kreuzberger, Paktya PRT engineer. "The country has been cannibalized as a result of decades of fighting and the Taliban has taken full advantage of the poor living conditions, taking every opportunity to destroy what progress is being made. If the Afghans can have pride in ownership of the (reconstruction) efforts, then they stand a chance at succeeding against Taliban influence."

On a recent assessment mission, Major Riggs visited several construction sites in various stages of completion. At the Sayed Karam Female Medical Clinic, a clinic that provides medical care for women and their children only, a three-room billet is being constructed.

"We are very excited for the project," said Rabia Roshennad, a midwife at the clinic. "Now we will be able to have a female doctor and we can help more people. This is very good for Afghanistan."

While winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people is a bonus, the essence of the PRT mission is to give Afghans all the tools they need to succeed in restoring hope to their country.

"If we do this right, Afghanistan will be able to stand on its own," said Major Riggs. "That's all the recognition (the United States) needs - knowing we helped them and knowing that they can survive these hard times."