General Doug Pritt: Five Great Days in Herat

5 Great Days in Herat

I recently traveled to Western Afghanistan and the city of Herat with MG Durbin for a series of meetings with the Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) and Provincial Governors from the region. It was an interesting meeting (shira) because MG Durbin announced a plan to have Regional Command West and the 207^th Corps of the ANA take the lead in demonstrating the government of Afghanistan’s ability to maintain security in the region. This seemingly small announcement has huge implications for our team and mission. We will now provide mentoring and security support (weapons, vehicles and ammunition) to the National Police and Border Police. We will also take the lead in synchronizing the operations of the ANA and ANP. This is a particularly daunting task because the ANA don’t trust the Police and think they are corrupt. The ANA believe that if they tell the Police about an upcoming operation the mission might be compromised. We will also need to send our team members to more locations so they can teach, coach and mentor the police. We have asked our National Guard Soldiers with law enforcement experience to volunteer for this unique mission. Those who volunteer will have a more complex mission because they will be mentoring the ANA and several different elements of the Afghan Police Forces. Oh by the way the police report to the Minister of Interior and the Army reports to the Minister of Defense so the odds everyone will want the same results is slim and none. I am sure it will be an interesting time and we are fortunate to have over 120 Soldiers with Law Enforcement experience who will be able to bridge the gaps between the various organizations.

The map below shows the area Bob is responsible for. The locations indicated are places where he has personnel assigned. The travel time from Herat to Chaghchran, the village due East of Herat, is 21 hours by vehicle.

MG Durbin and I visited the Regional Training Center (RTC) and watched recruits training to be Police Officers. There are currently 62,000 police officers, they are called Soldiers, in Afghanistan and about 40,000 have received formal training. The other 22,000 have only had on the job training. That fact doesn’t enhance your confidence in the Police forces ability to maintain security and law and order in the remote regions, because most of the untrained police serve in the small villages. A trained police officer gets a $ 70.00 per month salary and an untrained police officer is paid $ 17.00 per month. Some people believe the reason a police officer is willing to work for $ 17.00 per month is because it affords him an opportunity for graft and corruption. The formal basic training all police officers are supposed to receive is 5 weeks long. This training only covers the essential tasks of being a police officer and that doesn’t include weapons qualification training. They do familiarize with their weapons but are not required to qualify. During our visit to the police training center we were able to fire a shotgun with a pistol handle, like the ones you see in the hero movies. Holding a shotgun with one hand and aiming it like a pistol was a first time experience for me. I think the last time I fired a shotgun was over 20 years ago. I was surprised to hit the target with all 5 of my shots. I was the only one in our group to do so. Staff Sergeant Black, my personal security guard who travels everywhere with me, now wants me to give up my pistol and carry a shotgun. He thinks I have much better odds of hitting something or at least scaring someone. With the pistol he is fairly sure I won’t hit anything.

In addition to visiting the RTC we also flew to one of the ANA Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) in the Southwest portion of Afghanistan located on an old airfield built by the Soviets. The ANA have taken over some of the old Soviet barracks and dining facilities for use as an ANA base. We have refurbished the buildings and other than being isolated and very Spartan, it is an adequate facility. We attended an ANA live fire exercise with mortars and a small anti-vehicle rocket launcher. The ANA are very accurate with the weapons and highly motivated to show off their skills. Recognition goes a long way here because the Afghans are a very proud people and they get very little recognition. The 207^th Corps Commander was with us and took time to recognize his Soldiers for their hard work. The area where the base is located was the center of the pomegranate growing region before the Russians destroyed the elaborate irrigation system. There are still many pomegranate trees on the base and I am looking forward to visiting the FOB in December when the fruit is ripe.

We conducted an inspection of the dining facility because there had been a recent fire that did some damage to the building. The ANA cooks actually get a bonus each month because it is a hot and dirty job. The fact that they use wood stoves to cook on also makes it dangerous. Sanitation is always an issue and the temporary building they were using to cook the meals was even worse than the normal facility. Soldiers cutting the vegetables on the floor and flies everywhere dispelled any ideas we might have had about eating there. By pure chance, we observed the delivery of the daily supply of meat when the carcass of a goat arrived in the back seat of a Toyota Corolla. Goat is the most popular and also the most plentiful meat here. The goat arrived with no protective covering or wrapping and was just lying in the back seat covered with flies.

I remained in Herat an additional three days after MG Durbin departed and had the opportunity to visit several interesting sites and participate in some fun events. Colonel Bob Elliott, one of my closest friends for over 32 years, is the commander in the West so he had a very full schedule for me. We visited a home for disabled veterans and my words are inadequate to describe the situation. The country of Afghanistan has no way to care for or compensate these former Soldiers for their service and life changing injuries. Many would like to work, but there is no training available to teach them a new skill or trade. We delivered some food and cooking supplies along with some first aid kits for their use. One very interesting aspect we discovered was several of the former Soldiers had been divorced by their wives so the women could be re-married. In a few cases the wife had left the children with the disabled veteran so the former Soldier was not only attempting to find a way to survive for himself he also had a family to look out for. I have no idea how many of these shelters exist but I expect the number is very alarming. In the rural areas the families of the disabled veterans rally to the cause and take care of them. In the cities, disabled Soldiers are often left with no one to turn to. In some cases the family might have been killed or moved to Iran or Pakistan. Bob’s team has done great work with these veterans and also facilitated the involvement of the Italian Army in helping provide some supplies and food for the center.

We also visited a Women’s Training Center where widows of ANA Soldiers killed in the various wars over the past 20-30 years learn a trade. They are taught how to make clay flowers, sew clothes and weave rugs. The women were of all ages and didn’t wear burkas, so you could see their faces, an unusual event in Afghanistan. Many had their small children with them and some of the widows looked like they were no more than 13-15 years old. Of course we couldn’t ask how old they were, so there is no way to be sure. The training center is operated by some government agency that we couldn’t identify. The building is owned and maintained by the government. All the equipment and raw materials are purchased by the government. The women are paid by the government. As a result all the products the women make are the property of the government. The students are paid 80 cents a day and the instructors are paid a whopping $ 1.60 a day. According to the woman who manages the center, the women hadn’t been paid in two months. We took them some rice, beans and cooking oil. The women don’t live at the center so I am not sure how they were going to divide up the supplies to the over 60 women who worked there, but they were very thankful for the food. There were two main buildings, one 3 story and one single story with a well in the court yard between the buildings. All the women sit on the floor to work except the four who operate the 1940s vintage sewing machines. The weavers sit side by side on the floor and work as two and three person teams on each rug. They can weave about one and one half to two inches per day depending on their skill level and the size of the rug. They make the wool rugs from goat, sheep or camel hair. They also weave with silk on the rare occasion when the government supplies it. We gave Bennie Babies to some of the younger children and they were delighted with our small gifts. Bob’s team is attempting to purchase sewing machines, looms and materials for the women so they can make products and sell them at the Bazaar held each week on the base where Bob’s unit is located. This will be a huge step forward for these women and might provide the means for the most skilled craftswomen to earn enough money to purchase their own equipment and make their own products.

The next day started with a sports day walk with the commander of 207th Corps. The walk was done at an easy pace around the FOB, about 2 miles. The Corps Commander is not in the best physical condition, which is one of the reasons for doing the walk. We talked most of the way and almost the entire time he was panting due to the exertion. After our physical training we visited a small village, 27 Mud Huts, located in the desert east of the FOB where Bob’s Headquarters is positioned with the 207^th Corps. The village plays a key role in providing early warning to the base in the event of an attack from the East so Bob’s team wants to maintain a positive relationship with the people who live there.  Twenty five years ago the area was a rich farmland where the villagers grew products to sell at the local market in Herat. There were actually several villages on the small plateau, but the Russians didn’t want the villagers to live within 5 Kilometers of their base so they bombed the wells and irrigation system. With their sources of water destroyed most of the people moved away. After the Russians were driven from Afghanistan, the people from one village migrated back. According to the village elders some of them had actually stayed in the village in spite of the Russians. They walked to town to work but came back to their families each night. Even after the Russians left, water has remained in short supply so they requested the US Soldiers pay for a well for the village. When Bob went to meet with the Village Elders his team didn’t have enough money to pay to drill a well so they suggested the men of the village dig the well themselves if Bob’s team provided some equipment . When we visited the well site the men had been digging for several days and had made more progress than expected. There is a side access to the well through a dried up stream bed at a depth of about 20 feet. The side access is a series of tunnels that lead to several old well sites that were bombed by the Russians. The men invited us to go into the tunnels and I couldn’t resist the temptation to visit a well site hundreds and perhaps thousands of years old. After a discussion about the two large King Cobras they found in the tunnel I proceeded to wade in. I say wade because the water was about 6-8 inches deep inside the tunnel. The men were pleased their digging efforts had already been rewarded with a new water source for their village. They had a small canal (ditch) leading to the village and a check pond full of water near the well site. The well is about a mile from the village and the men will continue to develop the well and irrigation system with the goal of planting crops next spring.  Bob’s team promised to provide some food to the village as part of the incentive to get them to dig the well on their own. Because they had done so well we delivered some beans and rice which made a big impression on the village men. It was like Christmas with each family getting a 25 pound bag of rice and a 25 pound bag of beans. We also had some cooking oil which was a huge hit. There was one young boy who received a teddy bear from one of the Soldiers and he was in heaven. Words can't describe the joy on his face.  Now that they have been successful, the men said they will use their new skills and equipment to dig wells for other villages. The smiles on their faces and excitement in their voices made it easy to see the pride in their work. This project is a huge success and will be used as a model for other projects throughout Afghanistan. Getting the Afghans to help themselves is far better than paying someone else to do the work for them.

In July, the US Embedded Training Team provided a tent for the village children to use as a schoolhouse. When we visited the village we went by the school house and saw the children reciting their lessons with big smiles on their faces because they were proud of themselves. The village has no electricity, no running water, no sewer, no anything except mud huts and walls and of course now a well and irrigation ditch. There is one TV in the village that is powered by a generator. The man who owns the TV set has a big problem keeping his neighbors from inviting themselves over to watch TV each night. The day we visited there were two teenage girls on the roof adjusting the antenna and getting a long look at our little entourage. Their actions appeared very cute as they hid when we arrived and moved around the chimney so they could still watch us without being fully seen.

Our newly expanded mission, working with the Police, made it necessary to meet with the Border Police Commander so we traveled to his Headquarters east of Herat. This gave us the opportunity to do several things; See downtown Herat and visit the Citadel, drive the road that leads to Iran, see the Minarets up close and visit the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Headquarters. The meeting with the Border Police was very interesting and provided some insights about the difficulty of controlling a 600 mile border with Iran that has only 8 official crossing points. Because of the flat terrain anyone wanting to avoid the tariffs charged at the official crossing points can easily drive around the controlled crossing points. It is alleged the Border Police are corrupt, so if they do collect tariffs they most likely don't turn all of them in to the Government. The main road between Herat and Iran is a paved highway with painted lines and plenty of shoulder space to pull off the main road. There is the equivalent of a truck stop on the outskirts of Herat and there were many trucks loaded with goods filling up with fuel before they started the long journey to Iran. Most were hauling food crops and hay stacked very high to maximize the profit from the trip.

The Minaret’s are large towers that used to be covered with colorful tiles. Prior to the Russians there were over 30 of the ornate towers, today there are only 5 left standing. Most of the tiles have been removed so what remains is only a shell of what was once a landmark of this grand city. I have now visited all the major cities of Afghanistan except Kandahar. I have been to Kandahar on numerous occasions but I haven’t been to the downtown area yet. Herat is the most vibrant and livable of all the metropolitan areas. Herat has more parks than all the other major cities in Afghanistan combined. The road from the airport to the city center is 4 lanes, paved and has a median with large pine trees. Commerce is thriving, in part because they have reliable power from Iran and Turkmenistan, and they are even building a university. 

The PRT in Herat is run by the Italians and is located downtown in a complex of homes being used for offices and living space. There are PRTs throughout Afghanistan operated by many different countries. Our visit to this PRT was a cultural and educational experience. The commander, an Italian Colonel, is a high energy, outgoing person with a special flair for life. He is a perfect personality match for getting along with Bob and couldn’t stop talking about how much he enjoyed working with Bob. We had a delicious lunch of pasta and seafood followed by chocolate ice cream. After lunch his staff provided a thorough briefing on their Civil-Military construction projects. The Italians spent 4.5 million Euros last year and over 8 million Euros this year on assistance to the communities in and around Herat.  The briefing also pointed out that the Italians were having success at stretching their money by involving the Afghans in the project during the early phases. The Italians use Afghans to work through the bidding process and it appears to be a very efficient way to keep costs down. On a side note, I have believed for some time the Afghans have quickly adjusted their bidding techniques when the US is paying for a project because they believe they can charge more.

Our trip to the downtown area and the Citadel reinforced the history of war and conflict that has impacted Afghanistan for centuries. The Citadel is thousands of years old, in fact there was an archeological crew, led by a German female, on site digging for artifacts and hoping to locate the walls of the original fort. The Citadel covers several city blocks and overlooks the very center of the downtown area. The walls are thick, up to 20 feet in some places, and the entire fort used to be surrounded by a mote. The lookout towers in the corners have commanding views of the city and surrounding area. The firing ports were well protected and provided the defenders a tremendous advantage. The Citadel is being refurbished and the Afghans hope it will one day be a tourist attraction. As we toured the many rooms there were several that stood out in my mind. The bathroom of a princess who had once lived there had a large bath (pool) in a round room overlooking the northern part of the city. There was a room full of Old Russian Army equipment and another room full of money. Yes money. We went into a room approximately 25 feet by 25 feet with literally millions and millions of Afghani just filling the room at an estimated depth of at least 4 feet. We stood there in complete amazement and had our pictures taken with the most money any of us had ever seen in one place at one time. All that money and it wasn’t worth a thing. Bob suggested to the caretakers they should sell the money as souvenirs when the Citadel is opened for tourists. We did ask for, and receive, permission to take a few bills as souvenirs.

We visited with many of the Task Force Phoenix Soldiers and everywhere we went they were excited about how well the Afghans were doing and the improvement they could see taking place on a daily basis. The West holds a great deal of promise and indeed could be the place to showcase the ability of the Afghans to maintain law and order in at least one area of the country. It was a great trip and afforded me the opportunity to see some of Afghanistan that is far different from the areas I usually visit. The level of enemy activity is much less than in the East and South so there is a very real opportunity for growth and stability especially in the area surrounding Herat.

Love Doug