CIS, Education Boost, Three Years On
Two RNZAF Communications and Information Systems (CIS) personnel - LAC Julian Thompson and CPL Kelly Clapham - are being kept busy on their deployment to Afghanistan. LAC Thompson describes first light over the Hindu Kush and how they are ‘adjusting to the Army way of life.’
Adjusting to the Army way of life isn’t easy, especially when you’re thousands of kilometres from home, one of only two Air Force junior ranks and living with 100 Army and Navy personnel. However, CPL Kelly Clapham and I have adjusted well. We are now three months into our six-month deployment to Bamyan, Afghanistan.
New Year 2007 began nothing like I would have experienced in New Zealand. At 0600 hrs 20 camp personnel, braved -20.50 temperatures, walked up PT Hill. It was here that we saw the first light of 2007 over the Hindu Kush. Someone demonstrated their golfing skills by attempting to hit golf balls across the valley. Others spent the time in quiet reflection or drinking a well-deserved non-alcoholic beer.
My role in the Provincial Reconstruction Team is Command Post Operator. It involves ensuring at all times there is a communication link between Kiwi Base and the deployed patrols. I work on a shift basis - a bonus as this leaves a bit of free time to get out and about with various groups. The first time I went out was to destroy a UXO that was found in the township just next to Kiwi Base. Other tasks included providing security for vehicles, or security for personnel in meetings.
CPL Clapham’s job is very different. His role is to maintain the information systems on camp and it can certainly be time consuming. He has spent many long nights at work making sure the information links with New Zealand are the best we can get. Overcoming the time difference to liaise with New Zealand is often a challenge. When the Internet isn’t working he’s flat out trying to get it up and running again.
There is always something to do in your down time, especially exercise. PT Hill is always a good option for a workout. There’s a bit of snow on the top of the hill, which makes for an interesting climb and the view is worth it. If the snow is not your thing there is the gym, which is always buzzing. Soccer is popular at lunchtime with 20 or so people usually showing up.
Although CPL Clapham and I are in the same trade and trained together we are doing completely different jobs here. We are definitely keeping busy and no two days are the same, but we’re also counting down the days to come home.
Education in Afghanistan’s Bamyan province was given a boost in December when Kiwi troops serving in the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) opened Bamyan Boys School.
New Zealand troops oversaw the school’s eight month long building process, helping with planning, organising contractors and the allocation of $500,000 worth of funds provided by the New Zealand Agency for International Development.
The 16-classroom school is one of the largest in the province, catering for 300 boys from Years 1 to 12.
During his opening ceremony address New Zealand contingent commander GPCAPT Kevin Short said completing the school before the Afghan winter reached its peak was a major achievement.
‘This boys’ school is a success on many levels. It is unique in the province as a two storey building and is a very visible and tangible example of progress towards a positive future for the people of Bamyan.
‘The future is your children. Their education is key to your success as a country,’ he said.Bamyan provincial Governor Habibi Sarabi said the school was yet another example of the great work done by the NZPRT in the province.
Since assuming responsibility for the Bamyan provincial reconstruction team in September 2003, New Zealand troops have facilitated the construction of five police stations, a maternity ward at Bamyan Hospital and a number of new bridges.
The NZPRT has also helped in the construction of new local government infrastructure, wells for local villagers and the purchase of new equipment for Bamyan’s medical services and police.
All of these initiatives contribute to the reconstruction team’s role of ensuring security in Bamyan province, nation building and helping to distribute aid and improve infrastructure.
WN 06-0353-04 The front of Bamyan Boys School. The two-storey school is one of the largest buildings in Bamyan province.
WN 06-0353-05 Governor Sarabi, her Assistant, and GPCAPT Short.
SQNLDR Peter Cochran was part of the first deployment to Afghanistan in 2003. He returned to Afghanistan late last year as a Patrol Commander in the ninth Kiwi Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) rotation. In this article he reflects on the changes that have taken place since he was first there.
When I arrived with the New Zealand Defence Force on the first Kiwi deployment to Afghanistan in September 2003, I saw the poor, war-weary people of Bamyan, struggling to get their lives back to normal. Many were refugees returning home from Iran or Pakistan, to houses and villages, amidst a harsh and unforgiving mountainous environment, totally destroyed by the Taliban. There were many fatherless families and the economic situation was desperate.
Despite these hardships these people showed the coalition forces a gratitude and hospitality, which was amazing and very humbling. We were seen both as the liberators and the means for rehabilitation - and to future prosperity. While it was great to feel such gratitude, we all realised that there was a huge task ahead. We had to operate in a tough and desolate environment and fulfil many future expectations.
On my return three years later with the latest rotation of NZ troops I was interested to see whether things had improved and whether the Kiwis were still welcome.
After twenty years of war and dislocation, there were two major concerns. First, there was a huge lack of obvious structures like schools, clinics, roads and bridges. Second, the social system was based on a feudal-like fealty towards the local Warlord. As such there was almost no local government infrastructure and little confidence in a central democratic system.
Due to the war, a generation had largely gone without any education. While there was a desire to get the children back to school immediately, we often ran into struggling teachers who hadn’t been paid for six months because of the limited administration. In other areas, independent and haphazard aid was given by many aid agencies, but this aid was of the “quick and obvious” type. Few agencies wanted to channel their resources into the less glamorous areas of training, systems development, and infrastructure. In yet another area, due to the uncertainty of the future, most people still had weapons hidden – especially the Warlords - and understandably they were reluctant to surrender them. Until the threat of war was gone, no military commander was willing to hand in his means of self-protection. The civil police network was almost non-existent and the policemen were untrained, poorly paid, and forced to rely on bribes and kickbacks to survive. In a country that was still in conflict - a truly daunting task lay ahead. This was the situation we faced when New Zealand first arrived in Bamyan. On my return three years later, I was in a unique position to judge the changes the NZPRT and others had made in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
The proverb about not building Rome in a day can apply equally to Afghanistan. I think the rebuild would need to be stretched to a decade or two. Nonetheless, in three years there have definitely been many substantial changes in the Bamyan area. Stand-out visual differences include the many new government, police and communication facilities. The policemen are much more evident and thanks to the NZ Police input, their impact, equipment and professionalism has greatly improved. The Bamyan Bazaar looks to have tripled in size as more refugees return. Confidence has grown in security and business opportunities and there is evidence of a crude form of town planning. The condition of the roads still has a long way to go with travellers still experiencing a bone-shaking journey, but on the main routes where we often used to cross our fingers before fording the river, there are now good bridges. The road builders now also have much better plant and machinery to work with. Many of the tortuous side-roads up the valleys have now been improved – so that the farmers can at least get a truck to bring out their produce, rather than having to rely on donkeys.
From a socio-economic viewpoint, it also appears that conditions have improved, especially for the central Bamyan area. There are more vans, bikes and busses on the roads and a lot of villages now have access to power thanks mainly to the many mini hydro-electric plants. Even in the out-lying areas there are noticeably more schools and many more students studying. More young people are able to speak English and are actively taking tertiary education in the Bazaar and at the Bamyan University. In outer areas, there are more clinics, more wells in the villages and it appears that people are more aware of preventative health practices. Agricultural practices are still very backward and labour intensive but machinery is starting to appear and there are small signs of diversification into orchards and forestry. Socially, the prominence of the old Warlords has subsided with many having handed in their weapons.
It was also very encouraging for me to find the PRT was still seen by the locals to be a valuable and necessary provider of security. Moreover, the PRT was still appreciated for its provision of assistance in many areas. Although the average villager may not necessarily appreciate the part that the PRT plays in improving the central services, infrastructure and police training he or she still sees the PRT as a stabilising keeper of the peace, a source of aid, and a means to advance his village’s case for access roads and general improvements. Generally the reception to the patrols is also still very positive and friendly. There are still some areas, particularly on the fringes of the region where the ethnic mix changes, still subject to outside extremist influences. Here things hang more in the balance, the sentiments are more fickle and the PRT has to work continuously to protect the security. However among the bulk of the people, there is a desire to keep the extremists marginalized and give the peace a chance.
Overall I have been impressed by the improvements in a difficult environment, and believe that the PRT has played a very important part in this progress. The maintenance of security, in a country that is still at war, is obviously a huge and on-going task, but ‘In Shah Allah’ (God Willing), the Kiwis will be able to maintain the peace. As patrol commander I am often thanked by the locals for this peace, even when we are doing vehicle and personnel searches at 3am on a minus twenty degree morning! Personally I am proud of the fact that the original cheerful acknowledgement and acceptance of our patrols has not diminished since my last tour and it is obvious that the Kiwis are still very welcome. On my return three years later, I was in a unique position to judge the changes the NZPRT and others had made in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
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