Agri-Business Development Team Departs for Afghanistan

March 1, 2012
By 1LT Michael Thompson, Courtesy of Georgia National Guard
Metter, GA, United States

The Georgia Army National Guard’s 265th Regional Support Group bid farewell to friends and Family Feb. 22 from the Metter High School gym during a deployment ceremony for the second Agri-Business Development Team (ADT) to Afghanistan.

The approximately 60 Georgia Guard Soldiers will replace the first Georgia Guard Agri-Business Development Team presently in Afghanistan and will assist the Afghan farmers over the course of a one-year tour. The Guard Soldiers bring with them more specialized skills than those of the usual advisory panels that helm assistance projects such as these. This mission calls for military members with expertise in farming, raising livestock and cultivating natural resources.

“They are in for the challenge of their lives,” said Wes Harris, a special projects coordinator for the University of Georgia who helped train the Guard Soldiers for their deployment to Afghanistan. “There is very little power anywhere in the country, and roads are basically non-existent. But, it is a good bridge with the Afghan farmer, knowing that people in uniform can be their friends and help them obtain a good lifestyle.”

The different types of projects the team could manage include building grain mills, introducing new wheat seed, building cool storage facilities to store harvested crops operated by solar panels, launching vet clinics focused on de-worming the livestock, advising with reforestation projects and increasing the crop yield for commercial use.

“We have 10 to 12 [agricultural] specialists that go out every day to help them grow crops better,” said Colonel Craig McGalliard, the ADT commander. “My particular team is going to be doing a lot of things with watershed management. They get very little rainfall. Most of their water comes from snow melt.”

ADTs ensure that local infrastructure and agricultural improvements are sustainable with local assets and within the context of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) abilities. To be immediately effective, ADT personnel must be in place to impact the next growing season. The ADT concept has two major benefits: provide immediate agricultural expertise and provide security forces to enable daily community engagement.