By Ryan C. Crocker, Kabul
Invaluable
civilians on the warfront
By Ryan C.
Crocker, Published: July 5
KABUL
I do two things
each week at our management meeting: Read aloud the names of colleagues, mostly
military but occasionally civilian, who have given their lives in service of
our country; and welcome those recently arrived to serve the State Department,
the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies. These
volunteers leave homes, family and sometimes careers to work 16-plus hours a
day, six to seven days a week, living in shipping containers. All are aware of
the threats we face at the embassy and the more frequent indiscriminate fire
against field positions.
These are tough
jobs, in a tough place, under even tougher conditions. One cannot underestimate
our civilian volunteers’ contributions to achieving our goal of creating a
peaceful, stable, self-sustaining Afghanistan that can no longer harbor
terrorists who would attack the United States. Since I arrived last July,
Afghan forces have begun to take the lead on security for about 75 percent of the
population. Never before have so many Afghans had access to health care and
education, both boys and girls.
In April, it was
Afghan forces who repelled simultaneous attacks in four provinces and Kabul. In
May, our countries’ presidents signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with
mutual commitments that ensure we will be allies well into the future.
While work
remains, none of this would have been possible without the American men and
women who volunteered to serve here. People like Paul Folmsbee, our senior
officer in regional command east, and Karl Rios, head of the Provincial
Reconstruction Team in Logar Province. Both work closely with local government,
security, business, civil and religious leaders. On April 15, during a meeting
with the provincial governor, Karl and Paul spent 12 hours under heavy fire.
They sent me a stream of updates and at 2 a.m., still under fire, Paul was
evacuated with a badly wounded Afghan soldier. Karl remained on site until
dawn, when Afghan forces suppressed the last of the attackers. And once they
got the all-clear, both returned to work.
This team is
motivated by a desire to make a difference for others. A civilian officer in
the east is helping facilitate a program to teach 200 madrassa high school
students basic computer and Internet skills to better connect them to job
opportunities and to the outside world. “When I touched the mouse for the first
time and put my eyes on the monitor screen,” said one student, Fatima, “I felt
that I was flying to the sky and seeing a new world of brightness, which gave
my heart much happiness.”
While our
civilian employees are considered targets, we have not simply hunkered down.
Regional security officers and drivers risk their lives to support more than a
hundred daily engagements, essential to diplomacy, between Americans and
Afghans in Kabul and beyond. I was humbled by their work during the attacks
against our embassy in September and April, when I joined them in the
operations room.
Despite the
danger, our civilian and military personnel, working with their Afghan
counterparts, regularly travel “outside the wire,” helping Afghans refurbish
homes, canals and irrigation systems left dormant or damaged by the insurgency.
For International Women’s Day, civilian Jessica Brandt and her military
counterpart, Lt. Col. Barbara Crawford, worked with female Afghan partners to
stage an empowerment event for more than 400 women.
The U.S.
commander, Gen. Marine John Allen, also recognizes the commitment of our
civilians. “Many of the men and women of the State Department serve out in the
field, riding in the same vehicles as our Marines and soldiers, living in very
austere forward operating bases, exposed to the same hardships and the same
dangers that our military personnel face. And yet they go unarmed,” he said. “I
cannot praise them highly enough. Without them and this close relationship, we
would not be able to accomplish all we have so far.”
I’d also like to
thank the 859 Afghan staffers who risk their lives every day to work for the
betterment of their country and ours. It takes a special kind of heroism for
them to serve alongside us. Taj, for instance, has worked for the U.S.
government for more than 20 years; he returned from Pakistan after the fall of
Taliban as the first local staffer in the reopened embassy. His outreach to
imams to discuss religious tolerance and women’s rights under the Koran is
achieving measurable results in fighting extremism. Reza helps connect embassy
leadership with politicians and thought leaders, supporters and critics, to
hear their concerns and ideas.
Working
alongside some of the most committed and determined people that Afghanistan and
the United States have to offer has deeply enriched the last assignment I will
take in the service of my country. It has left me confident about the future of
their nation and ours. I have served in a lot of hard places, with a lot of
very good people. None has been better than those I have been privileged to
call my colleagues here.
Because
of events of this year that we wanted to attend together (a close friend's
wedding, our 15th anniversary) we decided to do a long stretch from the 1st
R&R to the 2nd. That was the most stressful for both of us as he left right
after Christmas and didn't come home again until May. During that time
thankfully it was basketball season and scouts was well underway. I had begun
to volunteer more at the school, which was very helpful for keeping me out of
the house and during the times when calls would not be coming. Plus
volunteering is so flexible! It was just hard to have to go such a long
stretch, that we would not recommend it to others, unless absolutely
unavoidable. Looking back it doesn't seem so bad now, but I remember during the
time that I was thankful for volunteering, the kids busy schedules, and having
friends around. Granted not many are familiar with the FS life here in small
town PA, and sometimes, that was exactly what I needed. 
