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ILO: A little bit of everything

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. James Law
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan --  He can be found each morning hustling from one Humvee to the next ensuring the communication equipment is operational before fellow Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team members convoy into the mountainous terrain here.

"Basically we are in charge of all the communication equipment in the vehicles," said Senior Airman Brian Lowie, Laghman PRT communications technician deployed from 81st Training Support Squadron, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

Airman Lowie explained the equipment is the vital link PRT members use to communicate with each other when moving through communities as well as to receive intelligence and threat information from the base. Maintaining this equipment is only one of the duties Airman Lowie performs filling an 'in-lieu-of' tasking with the PRT.

Airman Lowie also contributes to the mission by routinely going out with the convoy as a gunner.

"It's a little bit of a rush because the gunner is the eyes and ears of everybody in the vehicle," said Airman Lowie. "We're watching for things that might be out of place...for people who might be out there to do us wrong."

When Airman Lowie is not looking at the world behind a M2 .50 caliber machine gun, he is looking at it through the lenses of a camera.

"I have always had an interest in cameras," said Airman Lowie. "I have always had the point and shoots, the little disposable cameras."

Airman Lowie photography interest is so great he is pursuing a degree in photojournalism and recently purchased a professional-quality camera while deployed here. He uses his new camera to capture the PRT's interaction with the local community as they help develop the infrastructure. He later posts the photographs on a website he created to inform others of the PRT's mission.

"The website is more or less a photography website," said Airman Lowie. "We take the pictures we have and put them out there to grab people's interest and inform them of what we do.

"I actually love this deployment," said Airman Lowie. "It's what I think is going to be an once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing."