The Foreign Service Journal, March 2007

together this April. There used to be three Dyncorp contractors here, working with our military Police Technical Assistance and Training team, but they all left and haven’t been replaced. The Bureau of International Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement spon- sors two compounds of Dyncorp contractors: about 40 police mentors are based at the Regional Training Center Annex, across the street from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Jalalabad, and six or so trainers are stationed at the actual RTC (a police training center outside town, literally in the desert). INL also has advis- ers at the RTC with the Justice Sector Support Program who conduct surveys and do training, and the bureau sponsors a Poppy Elimination Program that operates out of the provincial governor’s compound. Finally, because Jalalabad is a large city, and Nangarhar province is relatively peaceful, there are numerous NGOs and international organizations here, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the National Democratic Institute, the International Committee of the Red Cross and others. There are also Indian and Pakistani consulates here. However, I seldom see any of the people not assigned to the PRT, even though nearly all of them are about 10 minutes away from me at most. Cell phones work only sporadically, and I only leave our small com- pound to attend previously scheduled meetings at spe- cific locations. Besides the 12 American teams, there are 12 other PRTs in Afghanistan under European leadership (German, Canadian, Spanish, British, Italian and sever- al others), each different in size and composition. For instance, the German PRT in Kunduz has over 500 peo- ple alone, many times the staffing of an American team. Military Culture(s) The working relationship between the State rep and the military personnel at each American PRT varies considerably, depending on the location, the personali- ty and experience of the commander, and the security situation in the province. Fortunately, our commander, Lt. Col. Dave Naisbitt, is awesome. A good leader and manager who has been here since last April, he understands the com- plexities of the Third World. He also appreciates the role and contribu- tions of civilian agencies and is very committed to the idea of interagency cooperation, going to great lengths to include my civilian colleagues and me in all PRT activities and issues. Local Afghans respect him and come to him with a multitude of questions and problems; both the provincial governor and the head of the Provincial Council consider him a close friend and ally. The Jalalabad PRT has a single mission to which we all contribute in different ways. Our three objectives are to promote security, encourage development and increase governance. Am I able to do my job effective- ly? The simple answer is yes. But the more complex one is that “my job” is very difficult to define. I see my role as twofold: serving as the Embassy Kabul represen- tative on the PRT, and the PRT representative back at the embassy. I provide “reach-back” by knowing who in Kabul can provide our team with assistance. By the way, it is ironic that when I served in the European Bureau’s executive office last year, the con- cept of “transformational diplomacy” dominated our working lives. Yet during my time in Afghanistan, I have literally never heard the phrase mentioned. The 51 Army soldiers who provide our force protec- tion are from two reserve units — one from Connecti- cut and one from Washington state. I have never told any of them my age, as I am probably older than most of their parents. Many of them are great guys, though some are quite disappointed that they are in Afghanistan, protecting and escorting us rather than “fighting the enemy.” The 32 officers are all from the Air Force, and they have a distinctly different subculture from their Army colleagues. I had no idea of the differences before com- ing here, but now am very familiar with them. Another division is between those who approach this extremely difficult situation with enthusiasm, and those who have become cynical as a result of the many chal- lenges, especially the pervasive corruption. I gravitate toward the enthusiastic ones, particularly the comman- der, the medic, the intelligence officer and the lead F O C U S M A R C H 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 41 Four months after arriving in Jalalabad, I am busy and active, and feel like a valued part of the team.