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trust, listen actively, ensureshared understanding, anddemonstrate care for people.Leading by example, we willshow them how to resolve
conflict, display character,and encourage initiative.
The AEAs must understandthat any signs of corruption,ineptitude, favoritism, orapathy on their part will bedetrimental to the long termheal th of the NangarharProvince and will ultimatelyfuel the insurgency.
We must also monitor theperformance of the AEAs and
work with the Director of Agriculture, Irrigation, andLivestock (DAIL) to holdthem accountable.
In addition to buildingleadership skills, we mustempower and train the AEAsto empower and train farmers.In his highly acclaimed book,Two Ears of Corn, RolandBunch provides guidelinesand discusses principles of third world agriculture, some
o f w h i c h s e e mcounterintuitive at first.
Bunch says that villagers inthird world countries don‟t
think like westerners and thattechnical solutions do notwork as well as we mightexpect them to. So, to besuccessful, we must unlearnmuch of what we know.
While many of the AEAs
L ast month, I provided myinitial assessment of the ADTIV mission and I began todeve l op ou r concep t o f
operations. In that article, Inoted that our team wouldmaximize our impact byl e v e r a g i n g t h e I s l a m i cRepublic of Afghanistan‟s
Agriculture Extension Agents(AEAs) to serve and helpeducate farmers across theNangarhar Province.
In the eyes of farmers, theAEAs are probably the mostvisible and tangible exampleso f g o v e r n a n c e i n t h eNangarhar province. For thisreason, we see the AEAs asour primary customers and wesee the farmers of Nangarharas their primary customers.
But how will we leveragethe AEAs? What will we doto train and empower them?What do we want them toteach the farmers?
I mentioned last month thatwe intend to follow ADT III‟s
lead and build educationcenters and soil labs for theAEAs; but that is only thebeginning. Our mission willextend well beyond brick andmortar projects.
Firs t and foremost , webelieve that we must
train the AEAs to begood leaders. We must
convince them that the future
of the Nangarhar Provincelies in their hands and thattheir actions and their level of service will largely determinewhether farmers decide to
support the government orsupport the insurgency.
When it comes right downto it, the AEAs are in as gooda position to win or lose thiswar as anyone else. We needto make sure they understandthis and we also need toprovide them the tools theyneed to succeed.
We must train the AEAs tocoach, mentor, and teach.They must know how to build
Master Sgt. Don Lilliman,
ADT III, Staff Sgt. Robert
Pharris, ADT IV, and Dr.
Gary Hart, USDA, meet
with the Rodat District Ag-
riculture Extension Agent at
the construction site of a
new agriculture extension
education center in
Nangarhar.
Commander ’s Corner Empowering Nangarhar’s Agriculture Extension Agents
The Muleskinner Report
Mo Agri-business Development Team IV J U L Y 3 0 , 2 0 1 0V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
D R I V I N G
T H E T E A M
Commander Col. Fortune
Executive Officer Lt. Col. Charles
Senior Enlisted
Senior Master Sgt.
Blankenship
I N S I D E
T H I S I S S U E :
Why we conduct
post-mob training
3
Mining in
Afghanistan
4
The Muleskinner
Team Section
5
Fertile Training 6
Work horses 7
Purdue University
farms out advice
8
Meet the Team 9
Pictures from the
field
12
Resources and
contacts
15
www.facebook.com/MONG.ADTIV
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Empowering Nangarhar’s AEAs continued from page 1
P A G E 2
may have already been exposed to theprinciples outlined in Two Ears of
Corn, ADT IV needs to provide thetraining necessary to ensure they allunderstand and adhere to these basicprinciples.
One of these guidelines is that
g o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d a v o i d
paternalism; in other words, the
AEAs should not provide or do for
the farmers what the farmers can do
or provide for themselves. For
instance, the AEAs should not
provide farmers with free, high
quality seed year after year.
H a n d o u t s t e n d t o d e c r e a s e
motivation and self-confidence in
farmers, and motivation and self-
confidence are two keys to long term
agricultural improvement. So it's not
just that they don't enhance progress,
handouts actually hinder it.
Another guideline is that the
ultimate goal of the AEAs should not
be to focus solely on teaching farmers
new technologies but also to teach
them a process by which they can
cont inual ly improve their own
a g r i c u l t u r e . T h i s i s b e c a u s e
agricultural productivity is dependent
upon a mult i tude of var iables
including soil quality, ground slope,
amount of water and sunl ight ,
presence of pests, seed quality, and
many other factors - and these factors
are likely to vary from one farm to
the next. A technology that works in
one area may not work in another.Teaching farmers a process by
which they can help themselvesinvolves the following steps. First,AEAs must teach farmers the conceptof a limiting factor and how toidentify and correct it. The limitingfactor is the one key variable, such asirrigation method or soil quality, thatl i m i t s p r o d u c t i o n . G e n e r a l l yspeaking, manipulating variables
other than the limiting factor will notincrease productivity.
The second step is for AEAs to teachfarmers to set aside a very small portionof their land and designate it as anexperimental plot . By careful lychanging inputs and keeping records of these changes, farmers can identify theirlimiting factor and take actions tocorrect i t . Once this is done andproduction has increased, farmers cancontinue to use their experimental plotto find and correct the next limitingfactor, and so on.
The need to teach farmers to helpthemselves cannot be overemphasized.First, it has the potential to free up theAEAs to tackle projects of a larger scalesuch as developing canning or juicing
capabilities in their districts. Second,teaching a highly successful process to afew farmers may increase the i renthusiasm and cause them to shareideas with one another. Ultimately, thelesson may spread across the provincewithout help from the AEAs.
When the AEAs do teach a newtechnology, it must be simple enough tof o r t he f a r m er s t o unde r s t and ,
sustainable, and most importantly, thenew technology must produce clearly
observable results immediately as thiswill enhance the farmers‟ trust and
confidence in their AEA.
According to Bunch, the bottom line isthat agricultural improvement is muchmore about leadership, t raining,motivation, process, and trust than it isabout technology.
Our goal is to empower the AEAs todemonstrate these characteristics to thefamers in a consistent manner andthereby help to legitimize the Afghangovernment.
We believe that this will provide afoundation for agricultural improvementthat will continue to enhance prosperityin the province and counter theinsurgency even after the Missouri ADTmission is complete.
In next month‟s newsletter, I intend to
discuss what we envision as an end-state
for the ADT mission.
Two Ears of Corn – A Guide to People-Centered
Agricultural Improvement, Roland Bunc
Copyright 1982 by World Neighbors
“The bottom line is that
agricultural improvement
is more about leadership,
training, motivation,
process, and trust than itis about technology.”
Contracted workers lay the brick and mortar
for a new agriculture extension education
center that will include a soil testing lab, class-
room, and office for the assigned agent. The
Nangarhar ADT has four centers under con-
struction and six more being bid.
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
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P A G E 3
Army N a t i o n a lGuard (ARNG)uni t s conduct
p o s t - m o b i l i z a t i o ntraining for two majorpurposes. First, it allowsthe Army to review themanning, training andequipping of each ARNGunit before certifying theu n i t i s p r e p a r e d t odeploy.
S e c o n d , p o s t -mobilization trainingprovides ARNG units the
opportunity to conducttraining that cannot beconducted at their homestation due to the limitedtraining resources thatare consolidated at only afew post-mobilizationtraining installations.
A g r i - b u s i n e s sDevelopment Team IVwas manned, trained andequipped to the highest
level possible within theresources available to theMissouri National Guard.Upon arrival at CampAtterbury, the State of Missouri‟s work wascertified and we began tobuild upon the manning,equipping and training
baseline that wasestablished.
As an example,each mobilizingS o l d i e r a n dAirman receiveda p a c k a g e o f h i g h l yspecialized and
updated equipment. ThisRapid Fielding Initiative(RFI) is not available toSoldiers and Airmen inTitle 32 or state status.RFI can only be issuedwhile at the mobilizationstation.
O u r A D T w i l l u s ee q u i p m e n t i nAfghanistan that is notavailable for training inMissouri. Much of ourequipment in theater is sonew that training sets are
n o t a v a i l a b l e f o rdistribution to all states.The Army consolidatesthis new equipment at themobilization stations sounits can train on then e w e s t e q u i p m e n timmediately prior todeployment.
F o r e x a m p l e , i nAfghanistan our teamwill operate the Mine
Resistant and AmbushP r o t e c t e d ( M R A P )vehicles. During post-mobilization training, wehad the opportunity tofamiliarize ourselveswith the MRAP.
Both of these purposesare valid reasons for post-mobilization training.However, efficienciescan still be gained in thep o s t - m o b i l i z a t i o ntraining process.
I n f a c t , p o s t -mobilization trainingwould be an excellentcandidate for Lean, Six
Sigma or ContinuousProcess Improvement.
A number of challenges
exist in post-mobilizationt r a i n i n g , i n c l u d i n ginstallation throughput,equipment shortages, andunits arriving for trainingat vary ing l eve l s o f readiness.
In addition, much of the post-mobilizationtraining remains one-size- f i t s - a l l . T h e t h reeSoldiers assigned to a
m i l i t a r y h i s t o r ydetachment may have av e r y s i m i l a r p o s t -mobilization trainingexperience to a brigadeco mb a t t eam. T h i sapproach limits post-mobilization trainingoptions.
In some cases, homestation mobilization may
be possible and moreefficient than currentpractices. All optionsand ideas shou ld beexplored.
T h e s e c h a l l e n g e sshould not stop the Armyfrom continuing in theire f f o r t s t o g a i n t h eg r e a t e s t e f f i c i e n c ypossible and provide themost realistic training for
m o b i l i z i n g A R N GSoldiers.
Why we conduct post mobilization training By Lt. Col. North Charles
T H E M U L E S K I N N E R R E P O R T
Each mobilizing Soldier
and Airman received a package of highly
specialized and updated
equipment.
Spec. Ryan Lackey is
outfitted with an ad-
vanced combat helmet
(ACH), with night vision
goggle (NVG) mount,
and wears ballistic eyeprotection. He is pro-
tected with his Intercep-
tor body armor (IBA)
and carries the modular
lightweight load-carrying
equipment (MOLLE) II.
Fire-retardant gloves are
also part of his clothing
issue, His M4 has a
mounted laser sight
(CCO). When he ar-
rives in Afghanistan, he
will begin wearing his fire
retardant army combatuniform (FRACU) and
has the option to wear
his new Danner hiking
boots., and combat pa-
trol shirt, along with
other items specifically
designed to enhance the
ability of Lackey to con-
duct his mission and
remain protected.
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Mining in Afghanistan
P A G E 4V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
The June 13, 2010 issue of
the New York Times
reported that the United States
Geological Survey had discov-
ered nearly $1 trillion in un-
tapped mineral deposits in Af-
ghanistan. The deposits include
large veins of iron, copper, co-
balt, gold and lithium - a critical
industrial metal. The ChinaAfghanistan International Busi-
ness Golden Bridge Network
reports that Nangarhar Province
contains the most concentrated
lithium deposits in Afghanistan.
However, the lack of security,
lack of basic infrastructure and
corruption in Afghanistan cre-
ates a difficult environment in
which these resources can be
exploited in a manner that bene-
fits the people of Afghanistan.
Despite the lack of security in
Afghanistan, mining companies
have demonstrated a willingness
to invest in mining in Afghani-
stan as demonstrated by the
2007 bidding for a copper min-
ing contract that was ultimately
won by a nearly $3 million dol-
lar bid by a Chinese mining
group.
The leadership of Missouri‟sADT IV team has been asked
how the discovery of these vast
and untapped mineral deposits
will impact the team‟s mission
to strengthen the government of
Afghanistan through agri-
business development.
Our mission is to leverage the
government and other institu-
tions within the agri-business
sector in order to legitimize the
government, while helping es-tablish processes, procedures,
and controls which will ensure
those efforts are continued when
the military agri-business devel-
opment mission is finished.
The Department of Agricul-
ture, Irrigation and Livestock is
the governmental sector that
directly impacts most ordinary
Afghans. The efforts of the
ADT to encourage stable and
responsive governance in theDAIL will hopefully set the
example for the remaining Af-
ghan government ministries in
creating a viable and legitimate
government that responds to the
needs of the people of Afghani-
stan.
One of the issues the
Nangarhar DAIL has requested
we consider is assisting the
United States Agency for Inter-
national Development‟s Land
Titling and Registration Project.
That project aims to assist the
Afghan government in securing
property registration, simplify-
ing land titling procedures, and
clarifying the legal framework
related to property rights to sup-
port equitable economic growth,
improve land use efficiency and
equity, enable low cost land
transactions, protect the rights
of the poor, and improve liveli-
hoods.
The Mineral Law of Afghani-
stan provides that all mineral
deposits within the country are
the exclusive property of the
country of Afghanistan and that
a right to occupy or own the
surface right to land does not
confer any claim or right to the
mineral deposits which may be
found under the land.
While our mission does not
include working with the Gov-
ernment of Afghanistan to de-
velop its mineral resources, by
working to secure legitimacy of
even a single governmental sec-
tor and helping develop basic
agri-business infrastructure,
including beginning to unravel
the complex land tenure issues
throughout Nangarhar, we hope
we can lay the basic ground-
work for the Afghan govern-ment to exploit its mineral re-
sources for the benefit of the
Afghan people in a transparent
and sustainable manner that
minimizes adverse environmen-
tal impacts.
If we can assist the Afghan
government with land title reg-
istration and titling, it will be
better able to exploit its mineral
resources while providing af-
fected landholders the ability to
obtain financial gain from the
use of their surface land.
In order to position ADT IV
and future ADTs to take ad-
vantage of the potential oppor-
tunity to expand the counterin-
surgency fight, we are also
working to develop a reach back
strategic partnership with the
Missouri Institute of Science
and Technology.We hope the creation of this
strategic partnership will pro-
vide the government of Afghan-
istan the ability to obtain tech-
nical expertise from one of the
premier engineering schools in
the United States.
By Lt. Col. Raymond Legg
If we can assist the
Afghan government
with land title
registration and
titling, it will be
better able to exploit
its mineral resources
while providing
affected landholders
the ability to obtain
financial gain from
the use of their
surface ground.”
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P A G E 6
Capt. John Paluczak
conducts a key lead-
er engagement with
hired role players
that speak Pashto
and are familiar with
Afghan customs and
behavior, as part of
the final, three-day
Mission Readiness
Exercise during post
-mobilization train-
ing at Camp Atter-
bury. Capt. Montal-
bano, an evaluator
dressed for addedrole play, and Col.
Mike Fortune, com-
mander, observe his
performance in the
background.
Fertile Training at Atterbury
Since our arrival atCamp Atterbury,Ind. in late June,
ADT IV has preparedintensively for our de-ployment to Afghanistanand we are now finishedwith that preparation.
Our training includedmany individual and col-lective tasks such asthrowing live hand gre-nades, learning to use
state-of-the-art radios andbattle command equip-ment, reacting to anMRAP vehicle rollover,firing crew served weap-ons from the turret of anMRAP, and conductingmounted battle drillssuch as “react to am-
bush” and “recover a dis-
abled vehicle.”
We also conducted ag-
riculture-specific trainingwith subject matter ex-perts from Purdue Uni-versity.
As our post-mobilization trainingcame to an end, person-nel from Camp Atterburyprovided a three-dayMission Readiness Exer-cise (MRE) to evaluatethe team‟s proficiency in
all of the tasks trained todate, and its ability toeffectively integratethose tasks.
Prior to the start of theMRE, the commander of ADT IV, COL Mike For-
tune told the team “weare about to begin a threeday exercise that willbring together all of thetraining we have accom-plished both at CampClark and here at CampAtterbury. During thisexercise, Camp Atterburypersonnel will provide usrealistic but worst casethreat scenarios and willgrade us on how well wereact and recover, andhow well we accomplishour mission.”
Each day of this three-day event began with anoperations order briefingconducted the night be-fore, followed by re-hearsals and pre-combatchecks and inspections.
During each briefing,the team was told thatthey would be visiting amock-up Afghan town
called Claw Village toconduct a Key LeaderEngagement with localfarmers and their districtAgriculture ExtensionAgent. The briefing alsoprovided many other de-tails on the operation of the convoy, rules of en-gagement, medical evac-uation procedures, andthe current threat situa-
tion.The operational and
threat scenarios variedslightly from one day tothe next to allow theteam as many opportuni-ties as possible to honeits planning skills.
Each morning, the team‟ssecurity force preparedthe vehicles and checkedthe communicationsequipment. At the sametime, the Ag team re-hearsed their anticipatedkey leader engagementand made sure that every-one on the team under-stood its intent.
The team‟s missionwas to meet with localvillagers for the first timeto try to determine what
problems they were hav-ing with their agricultureand how the Ag teammight be able to helpthem.
As the convoys of fouror five vehicles set outfor Claw Village, theteam members knew thatthey were likely to beengaged by the enemy enroute. Over the course of
the MRE, the convoyssaw attacks ranging fromsingle IEDs to complexattacks that combinedIEDs, mortar fire, andambushes. In caseswhere none of the vehi-cles were disabled by anattack, the convoy rapid-ly departed the “killzone” and continued themission. However, the
MRAP turret gunnersreturned fire when theycould positively identifytargets.
Upon arrival at ClawVillage, the security
T H E M U L E S K I N N E R T E A M
By Capt. John Paluczak
Continued on page 12
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ModernModernModern work horses for ADT pull their weightwork horses for ADT pull their weightwork horses for ADT pull their weight
P A G E 7V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
In 2007 the DOD launched a major
procurement initiative to
replace up-armored Humvees with Mine Resistant
Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicles by fiscal
year 2009 . These vehicles will be the primary
means of transportation for ADT IV Soldiers and
Airmen.
MRAPs are a family of vehicles that generally
incorporate a vee-shaped hull and armor plating
designed to provide protection against mines and
improvised explosive devices. The vee-shape
design deflects the energy of a mine or IED
instead of absorbing it.
There are three categories of MRAPs. The Mine
Resistant Utility Vehicles make up the first
category and are capable of transporting up to
seven personnel. They are intended for urban
operations. The second category is the Joint
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Rapid Response
Vehicle capable of carrying up to 11 personnel and
designed for a variety of missions such as convoy
lead, ambulance, explosive ordinance disposal, and
combat engineer operations. Category III vehicles
are intended to primarily clear mines and IEDs and
can carry up to 13 personnel.
MRAPs quickly gained a reputation for providingsuperior protection for their crews and passengers
and this resulted in increased production and
deployment to both Afghanistan and Iraq.
These vehicles are equipped with turbo charged
inline six-cylinder diesel engines capable of
producing more than ample torque and horsepower
to propel them into and away from battle as
necessary. They are also equipped with all-wheel
air brakes in order to quickly bring these seven to15-ton vehicles to a halt.
Not only are MRAPs capable of surviving a blast,
but they also have blow away drive trains (i.e.
wheels, tires, engine, transmissions and drive
shafts) so that in most cases it is only a matter of
days to put the vehicle back into action.
In conclusion, with a casualty rate of only 6%
MRAPs have proven themselves much more
survivable than up-armored Humvees where the
casualty rate is reported to be 22%. MRAPs are
even outperforming M1 Abram Tanks which have a
15% casualty rate.
By Staff Sgt. Victor Sekscinski and Spec. Donald Callahan
M-ATV made by
Osh Kosh
RG-33L made by
BAE Systems
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Purdue University farms out adviceP A G E 8
During our time here at
Camp Atterbury‟s JointManeuver Training Centerlocated in rural Edinburgh,Ind., the Soldiers and Airmano f A g r i - B u s i n e s sD ev e l o p men t T eam IVt ra ined on a var ie ty o f traditional Army tasks. Forinstance, Soldiers threw livehand grenades, drove thenew MRAP All TerrainVehicle, and fired their M4
rifles.However, the fourteen
members of the AgriculturalS u b j e c t M a t t e r E x p e r tsection also received someagriculture-related trainingfrom Purdue University,located in Lafayette to gainknowledge that will betterprepare us to contribute tothe counter- insurgencyeffort in Afghanistan.
On our first day at Purdue,we met up with Dr. MikeNeary, specialist in smallruminant production andhealth, department of animalscience. During Neary‟slecture, we learned how toquickly and easily determinethe health of a sheep or goat
by measuring the animal‟sinternal body temperature,
e x a m i n i n g t i s s u e , a n dgrading the animal based onits general appearance.
We also learned that a pregnant, small ruminant‟snutrition is most important just before she lactates. Thisis due to reduced stomachs ize resu l t ing f rom thecompetition for space by the
offspring. When the lecturewas over , the AG team
members went to one of Purdue‟s experimental sheep
farms for hands-on trainingto reinforce what we hadlearned.
On our second day atPurdue, we were introducedt o D r . P e t e r H i r s t ,horticulture specialist, atPurdue‟s 120 acre “Nicks”farm. Our training wasconducted amongst countless
rows of beaut i ful f rui t -bearing apple and peachtrees, and grape vines.
We learned how differentplants thrive in differentlocations around the world,how to produce root stocks,and how to graft trees bycutting into the root stocks.The grafting technique wew e r e s h o w n e n s u r e s a
successful graft almost everytime.
O n e v e r y i n t e r e s t i n gmanagement technique Hirstshared with the group is theimportance of thinning a fruitcrop. By simply thinning anapple tree‟s fruit to one applee v e r y s i x i n c h e s , t h eresulting product will belarger, tastier and have abetter selling price.
Hirst explained to us thatquality is more importantthan quantity in the fruitindustry. He said that whenone acre of apples trees canp ro d u ce u p t o $ 2 0 ,0 0 0dol la rs in p roduct , thep rac t i ce o f t h i n n i n g i sd e f i n i t e l y w o r t h t h einvestment.
Our final day at Purduewas spent at the Agricultural
Engineering building on thehistorical Purdue campuswhere we attended a fourhour lecture on irrigationt e c h n i q u e s f r o m t h eProfessor o f Ag & BioEngineering, Dr. VincentBralts. Bralts provided us ano v e r v i e w o f w a t e rconservation and irrigationtechniques utilized in variousplaces around the world.
He also discussed thetheory and history of water
rights and warned us that wewi l l exper ience un iquechallenges in addressingthese rights in Afghanistan.
When our three days of training was complete, thep r o f e s s o r s o f P u r d u eUniversity had supplied uswith excellent tools in theform of reference materialsand knowledge that will
g r e a t l y a s s i s t u s i naccomplishing our mission intheater.
These tools complementthe lessons provided by ourLincoln Univers i ty andUnivers i ty o f Missour istrategic partners during thepre-mobilization phase of ourtraining.
Members of
the ADT IVagriculture
subject
matter
expert
team
gather
around Dr.
Peter Hirst,
horticulturist,
Purdue
University, to
learn about
fruit crop
management
techniques.
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
Photo by Capt. Peter Shinn
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P A G E 9
Meet the Muleskinner Team:
Soldiers and Airmen with ADT IV
Senior Master Sgt.Stephen Counts is theheadquarters sectionn o n c o m m i s s i o n e dofficer in charge forADT IV.
W h e n h e ‟ s n o t
deployed, he works asan avionics flight linesupervisor for the 131st
B o m b W i n g a tWhiteman Air ForceBase and is also a unitmember of the 131stBomb Wing.
Counts has been in themilitary since Oct. 30,1 9 7 3 a n d i n i t i a l l yserved eight years ona c t i v e d u t y b e fo re joining the MissouriNational Guard.
Counts volunteeredfor this mission and heb r i n g s a l o t o f
deployment experienceto the team. This will behis seventh deployment;he has also served inTurkey three t imes,Iceland, Saudi Arabia,
and Qatar.
Counts has a variedbackground in aviationexpertise working ond i f f e r e n t a v i o n i c ssystems. He was atechnical data expert forB o e i n g a n d w r o t etechnical manuals form u l t i p l e t y p e s o f aircraft and equipment
such as the F-15, F-18and AH-64D, to name afew.
Additionally, he hasw o r k e d a s amaintenance supervisorfor an aviation simulatortraining facility andduring his deploymentto Qatar was an aircrafts u p e r i n t e n d e n t
responsible for 450aircraft flying to threecountries.
In 2004, Counts alsoserved as Director of theC a m p W o n d e r l a n dProgram, a camp formentally and physicallychallenged children.
His current duties
include supervision of all the headquarters staff sections including themedics, and mechanicsa s s i g n e d t oheadquarters. It is his
responsibility to keept h e u n i t r u n n i n gsmoothly.
Counts is married toTess, has three childrenand a 16-month oldgranddaughter.
Two sons are in themilitary. Maj. DanielCounts serves in the AirForce and is stationed atHill Air Force Base,U t a h . L a n c e C p l .Mat thew Coun t s i sstationed at MiramarM a r i n e C o r p s A i rS t a t i o n . C o u n t s ‟daughter, Christine, is aregistered nurse.
He was able to joinMaj. Counts in Utah toat tend a change-of-
command ceremony andwatch his son assumecommand of the 388thC o m p o n e n t R e p a i rSquadron during theADT unit pass.
C o u n t s l i v e s i nHazelwood and on histime off he stays busyworking in his machineshop working on cars,
m e t a l w o r k i n g ,machining and welding.He also rides a 2009R o a d K i n g C l a s s i cHarley-Davidson.
T H E M U L E S K I N N E R T E A M
Senior Master
Sgt. Counts:
Seventh time is
a charm
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P A G E 1 0
Yo u n g e s t A D T M e m b e r
Military Star Card Deployment Plan
Force Protection Team LeaderM
iciah Pyatt, force
protection team
leader, was promoted
to first lieutenant in July.
Pyatt has been in
the National Guard forfour years and has been
with Missouri for a year
and a half.
H e a t t e n d e d
Northwest High School
i n C e d a r H i l l a n d
g r a d u a t e d f r o m
Lindenwood University inSt. Charles with a degree in
Criminal Justice.
Pyatt enlisted in 2006,
attended in fantry basic
training and later received
his commission through
ROTC.
He volunteered for this
mission while attending
In f an t ry Bas i c O f f i cer
Lead e r Co u r se a t F t .
Benning, Ga.
He said he joined the
military because it was
s o m e t h i n g h e a l w a y s
wanted to do and looks
f o r w a r d t o h a v i n g a
c o m p a n y c o m m a n d
position.
Pyatt says, “I expect
everyone on my SECFOR[security force] team to do
their job to the best of
their ability and stay safe. I
feel lucky to be in this
p o s i t i o n . I ’ v e b e e nimpressed by everyone on
my team.”
monthly allotment payments
during your deployment.
To be eligible for this bene-fit, you or your representativemust provide a copy of yourorders containing your name,your social security number,and your length/dates of de-
ployment.Unit Commanders or repre-
sentatives may submit ordersor one letter with several
ADT members that have aMilitary Star Card with ac-
counts in good standing areeligible to participate in a spe-
cial deployment plan.Upon approval, your interest
rate will be lowered to sixpercent for both your current
balance and any new charges
you make.They will also allow you to
make no payments or have
names on behalf of service-members requesting this bene-
fit.Orders can be faxed to
(214) 465-2997 attention to:Deployment, and include your
Star Card number.
For plan details visit theirwebpage through the AAFES
website.
https://shop.aafes.com
2007 and resides at Ft.
Leonard Wood.
He enlisted two years
ago as an Infantryman and is
assigned to Company B, 1-
138 Inf. Regt., located in St.
Louis.
This is Anderson’s firstdeployment and he said he
is ready to go. He said his
goal is to save for college.
Anderson is a freshman
a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f
Missouri-Columbia seeking
a degree in International
Relations.
He likes to skydive on his
time off.
A n d e r s o n g r e w u paround the military; his dad
recently retired from the
act ive duty Army as a
sergeant first class.
Sp e c . P h i l l i p M .
A n d e r s o n i s t h e
youngest member of the
Missouri Agri-business
Development Team IV
deploying to Afghanistan in
August.
He is originally fromTacoma, Wash. and moved
to Missouri four years ago.
H e g r a d u a t e d f r o m
Waynesville High School in
T H E M U L E S K I N N E R T E A M
Special points of
interest:
● Eligible members
with Military Star
Cards can choose
to not make pay-
ments or set up
monthly allotments
during deployment.
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At the reins : the deputy commander
P A G E 1 1
The deputy commander for
the ADT is the one person
that is integrally involved atevery level within the unit.
Not only does he work
closely with the commander
in planning future operations,
but he actively directs and
manages the staff to conduct
cu r r en t o p e ra t i o n s an d
support for the unit.
Lt. Col. North Charles is well
-suited for the role.
Charles was commissioned
through ROTC in 1985 and
joined the Military Police.
Most recently, he served as
t h e M i s s o u r i N a t i o n a l
G u a r d ‟ s D i r e c t o r o f
Operations at Jefferson City
w h i l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y
c o m m a n d i n g t h e 1 3 0 t h
Regiment, Missouri Regional
Training Institute, at Ft.
Leonard Wood.
Charles has a bachelor of
a r t s i n Co mmu n i ca t i o n
Studies from the University
of Missouri at Kansas City
and a Master of Arts in
M i l i t a r y H i s t o r y f r o m
Norwich University.
He said, “Our Missouri
Citizen Soldiers and Airmen
bring together a focused
g ro u p o f p ro fe s s i o n a l s
d e d i c a t e d t o e n a b l i n g
g o v e rn an ce t h ro u g h o u t
Nangarhar. The National
Guard is uniquely structured
and positioned to execute
these types of s tabi l i ty
operations that emphasize
civilian-acquired skills in a
c h a l l e n g i n g s e c u r i t y
environment.”
Charles lives in Columbia
with his wife but, will admit
to being from Kansas.
C h a r l e s r e c e n t l y c o -
a u t h o r e d a n a r t i c l e ,
“ O p e r a t i o n a l i z i n g t h e
Civilian Surge”, published
this month in the Military
Review.
Sgt. 1st Class Travis, Ralph Dean Jr. is the force protection teamnoncommissioned officer in charge.
Travis has served in the military a total of 29 years, eight of those on active dutyprior to joining the Missouri National Guard. He is the Chief of Smoke with DeltaBattery 1/129th Field Artillery, Independence, also known as “Truman‟s Own”.
Travis has already served on a force protection mission to Kabul, Afghanistan withthe 129th FA and he volunteered to join the ADT for this rotation to Nangarhar.
He also mobilized to Ft. Lewis as a military policeman for 18 months.
Travis lives in Raymore and is married to Dana. They have six children and he has a son serving on active duty atFt. Carson, Col. He also has three grandchildren. “All girls!” he said.
Travis likes to spend his time hunting and fishing.
He said his goal for this deployment is to bring all his Soldiers and Airmen back. So far, he said the force protection team has been very „put together‟ and he hopes to continue that for the rest of the deployment.
Secur i ty Force led by exper ience
The National
Guard is uniquely
structured and
positioned to
execute these types
of stability
operation that
emphasize civilian-
acquired skills in a
challenging security
environment.
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
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P A G E 1 3
P ic t u res f ro m t he f ie ld
Pvt. 1st Class James Havelka is pro-
moted to Specialist by Col. Mike
Fortune at Camp Atterbury.
Soldiers and Airmen conducted a wide variety of training and was evaluated on their performance to ensure they are fully preparedto mobilize. Training was conducted in realistic settings and based on scenarios that could expect to be encountered in Afghanistan.
Post mobilization training included records checks, (again!) and updates on shots. Those that did not have a previous smallpox shot
were inoculated. Above, Spec. John Buell lets his arm “air”. The site is contagious until scabbed and must be kept covered; healing
takes weeks. Not every day was work however, The Fourth of July was celebrated with some team sports and food was enjoyed at
the picnic area.
For more photographs of our activities and some video clips, visit us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MONG.ADTIV.
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
Photo by Capt. Peter Shinn Photo by Capt. Peter Shinn
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P A G E 1 4
P ic t u res f ro m t he f ie ld
ADT members watch as Dr.
Mike Neary, Purdue University,
teaches about ruminant health
and reproduction.
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
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Name (NO RANK)
MONG ADT IV
FOB Finley-Shields
APO, AE 09310
The Muleskinner is an unofficial publication au-
thorized by AR 360-1. It is published monthly
by the Missouri Agribusiness Development
Team IV to provide important information re-
lated to their deployment for the Soldiers andAirmen, their Families, units and commands,
the Army, DOD and the public.
Views and opinions expressed in the
Muleskinner are not necessarily those of the
Department of the Army or DOD.
If you would like to receive this publication to
your email or have questions or comments
concerning ADT IV please contact:[email protected]
Give us a holler!
MONG
ADT IV
Celebrating in August: Seasoned Couples
● LTC Legg and Tracey Berry celebrate
their anniversary on July 30
Yahoo for You! Belated best wishes
for July birthdays to the following:
● 1LT Berendzen
● SPC Callahan
● SPC Matthes
• Family Readiness Group Leader Paula Ann Maloney
417.250.1703 or 417.683.3711
• ArmyOne Source 800.342.9647 • Family Program Office 800.299.9603 • Family Assistance Center 877.236.4168 • Deployed Pay Issues 877.276.4729 • Employer Support of Guard and Reserve 573.638.9500 ext. 7730 • 131st Fighter Wing Coord. 314.527.6362
• 139th Fighter Air Lift Wing Coord. 816.236.3511 • Military Family Life Consultants
- Child/Youth (Amy Bledsoe) 573.418.3588
- Adult (Phil Pringle) 573.418.3588
• Chaplain Gilmore 573.638.9618
SPC Brody CPT Paluczak
LTC Charles SPC Sims
SSG Colson
SPC Garcia
SSG Maloney
www.facebook.com/MONG.ADTIV
Back at the homestead
C a l l m e... c a l l
m e...
W her e do I go?
W ho do I call?