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Kirtland gifts reach Afghan school children

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Dean J. Miller
  • Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, Afghanistan --  Airmen and Soldiers deployed to eastern Afghanistan helped a small English language class this week, delivering school supplies collected and shipped by fellow Airmen and their families at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. 

"These gifts are from American school kids and their parents who want to help you with your learning," said Air Force Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips, Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team commander. 

Saif Ul Rahman, the one-room school's teacher, was grateful for the supplies; but it was not the first time the Airmen and Soldiers of the PRT had helped him. Through the efforts of the PRT, his neighborhood daily English-language class for boys and girls has moved from a plot of dirt in an orchard into a dedicated one-room classroom - a former guard house no longer manned by the PRT. 

In addition to teaching English, Saif also escorts neighborhood children onto the PRT's modest Forward Operating Base for an occasional soccer game - a treat for both the children and the deployed Servicemembers. 

"The school supplies and the school itself are very, very important," said Saif. "But most important is the time they (Airmen and Soldiers) spend with the children in the classroom or at our soccer games. Practicing the English language with the Soldiers is learning, and that is most important, and I thank you - the children's parents all thank you." 

Throughout eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, education is a priority for children and in practice, many of the tribal-based communities allow and encourage their sons and daughters to attend school -- encouraging signs of improvement in governance, security and development as the nation recovers from 30 years of war in the shadow of an ongoing insurgency. 

The leading edge of Nangarhar's recovery is the PRT, a joint team of Airmen and Soldiers partnered with an inter-agency team of U.S. State Department, U.S. Agriculture Department and U.S. Agency for International Development representatives. Phillips, former commander of the Kirtland Distributed Mission Operations Center, now commands the forward-deployed joint, interagency team. 

Formed from active duty, National Guard and Reserve forces from around the continental U.S., Hawaii and Europe, the Airmen and Soldiers teamed together in January at Fort Bragg, N.C. Training in field conditions for three months, the team gained life-saving combat skills in preparation for a year on the ground in Nangarhar Province. 

"We assess community needs and build schools, government centers, roads, medical capability, communications facilities and basic infrastructure throughout Nangarhar through the use of local construction contractors," said Phillips, a native of Albuquerque, N.M. "We also personally mentor Afghan government officials and security forces to provide the people with the state representation and security they need." 

The goal is for the Afghan government to strengthen, provide essential services for its people, and improve stability for lasting prosperity. 

"The mentorship and training piece is absolutely critical to the future of this nation," Phillips said. "It's personally rewarding to be able to work directly with the Afghan people. To provide perspective, this effort is on equal scale to the rebuilding of Japan and Germany after WWII." 

And like those historic missions, the PRT is at the beginning of an ambitious undertaking with a front-row seat to identify large and small problems - such as the noticeable lack of basic school supplies throughout the province. This was a prime target for Air Force Lt. Col. Lisa Phillips, the PRT commander's wife, who placed a donation box in the office of Kirtland's Detachment 3, immediately inspiring others to help. 

The effort grew rapidly, with multiple collections underway throughout the Kirtland AFB community. In the end, nearly 500 pounds of school supplies were collected and shipped to Afghanistan--along with a strong message of hope for the future. 

"We want and need to educate the children, inspire their imaginations, and teach them to think for themselves," said Tech. Sgt. Micki Ortiz via e-mail, Det. 3 Information Management NCOIC. "They are the future, and they will change their world." 

In Nangarhar, the PRT mission continues as a long winter and spring lies between the team and the end of its deployment, and new opportunities to help more Afghan people are presented each day. 

"Hearing the Afghan children say 'thank-you' in English, seeing smiles on their faces, and knowing that our missions have made a lot of people very happy makes me proud to be here," said Air Force Master Sgt. Monica Wells, a personnel specialist for the PRT and Kirtland's former 377th Mission Support Squadron Employments and Relocations Superintendent from Cassaeada,New York. "We're helping to give them a better, brighter future; it's a great mission."