Wing Commander Rodger Pringle (WN09-0026-048)
5 September 2009
By Nicole Munro-Johnson
Wing Commander (WGCDR) Rodger Pringle has taken his Air Force career to new heights, as the New Zealand Defence Force representative to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The Shirley Boys’ High School old boy has been in Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan (on the border with Pakistan) since April, and is spending seven months in the war-torn nation working with the United Nations.
As a Military Liaison Officer, WGCDR Pringle acts as a strategic interface for multi-national forces and the Afghan authorities, regarding security reform within the overarching Afghanistan National Development Strategy and the UNAMA mandate. “I’m one of 20 international staff members in a UN office with 85 percent national staff. My daily routine is a mixture of office and field work in all four provinces immediately to the west of Pakistan.”
WGCDR Pringle says his surroundings are panoramic, from desert nomadic lands in the south to the Hindu Kush Mountains in the north, reaching up to 18,000 feet. Villages are tucked into the valleys or sprawled across the plains, people cluster round local bazaars and mud compounds; subsistence farming is the daily chore for most.
“The terrain, as well as insecurity, will challenge many voters at the 20 August election, where some voters will walk for seven to eight hours along donkey tracks to vote for their next president.”
The role is challenging and WGCDR Pringle says that he has met many local military as well as civilian leaders who are striving towards a better future for all. It’s not easy, as was evident when Pringle spoke to a young woman sewing scarves in a village five minutes from the main city of Jalalabad: “I asked her what she wanted to do in her life. Her reply, via an interpreter, was ‘Sir, all I want in life is to learn how to read and write’. She was 14 years old. Regrettably I didn’t get her name and wasn’t allowed to photograph her, but I will never forget her desire for the very basics in life.”
WGCDR Pringle hopes that another Kiwi military officer will replace him in Jalalabad when he returns to New Zealand later this year.
“Our national culture and 'number 8 wire' approach are well suited to this mission. I know that Kiwis are making a difference here in Afghanistan and while our contribution is small in comparison to some other countries, it is nonetheless invaluable support to a country in need of rebuilding.”
Ends