Hunting for Grass in Taliban Country

Rangeland in Taliban Country - Images by Janet Killeen

I never imagined I would ever strap on a Kevlar vest and travel through Taliban country just to take a soil sample.  It was not part of my training as an Agronomist back at Kansas State University.

Yet, here I am, all armored up in a Blackhawk zooming over the rangeland of Afghanistan.

Seated next to me are Lt. Col. Rice and Sgt. Maj. Hall, agriculture experts with the Agribusiness Development Team (ADT), a unit of the South Carolina National Guard based out of Columbia, SC.  The ADTs are comprised of Guardmembers who have civilian background in farming and agricultural business.  Rice is an Ag Economist, and a commercial pilot who farms 200 acres in Allendale.  Hall is a Grassland Conservationist for National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in Greensboro, South Carolina.  

We and other members of the South Carolina ADT are flying out to the remote village of Manay in Koshi district in Logar province.  The team is assessing the rangeland for reseeding and watershed projects.

Manay is high up in the foothills surrounded by rangeland and high mountains.  Its residents do not support the central government, nor do they completely support the insurgents who move through the area—they are ‘on the fence.’

Influencing the rural population is a key goal in counterinsurgency (COIN) and ADTs are a crucial pillar in that strategy. Legal and illegal combined, 80% of Afghans are involved in agriculture; wheat, grapes, sheep, opium and hashish.

Isolated villages like Manay are vulnerable to insurgent activities.  In Logar province it is the Haqqani Taliban and HIG who move through the area.  Through stick and carrot, they use these villages as hideouts to plan attacks. Logar is also known as a region where explosive material is stored for IEDs in Logar province and for car bombs in Kabul. 

Getting the rural population connected to the central government and working with Coalition forces is a key mission for the South Carolina ADT.

Afghanistan is not the dry bleak desert painted in the media.  Diverse in natural resources, it has abundant rivers and forests with over 75% being rangeland.  From our view in the helicopter, the grassland seems to be overgrazed but without any historical data of what is considered healthy, it is premature to judge. 

The first Blackhawk makes a wide circle around the site and drops fast for a landing.  Ten of the ADT’s Security Force (SecFor) jump out and secure the perimeter.  The second Blackhawk drops down and Rice, Hall and I along with the remainder of the team all leap out.  Both helicopters abandon us to the prairie and fly off.  They will be patrolling in the distance; far enough to look for approaching bad guys, yet close enough if needed quickly.

Two SecFor soldiers sprint up steep rock faces to search caves while the other soldiers spread out to form a secure perimeter.  While they scan the horizon for Taliban, we Aggies wander the hillside picking flowers and digging holes.

The ground is scattered with rocks and sparse vegetation but there is more soil than any of us expected and the auger drives down 18 inches before hitting rock.  The soil has a little clay content and we spot three to five different species of plants. 

Rangeland is important but seldom a focus for rebuilding the agriculture sector in Afghanistan.  Grassland rehabilitation is not as visible a project for reconstruction as a girls’ school.  Yet, providing better grass for the ‘poor grade’ livestock could provide not only additional income for the farmer, but a better food source for his undernourished family. 

Improving the livelihoods of the farmers could possibly build much needed support for the central government.  Yet, perhaps just as important it could give incentive for the ‘on-the-fence’ population to keep the roads free of IEDs this summer as thousands of American soldiers pour into the region as part of Obama’s surge.   

Lt. Col. Rice talks on the radio to his SecFor team—there is a motorcycle with unknown men moving into our area.  Time to go he decides.  We have been on the ground long enough; to stay means we are increasing our risk for an attack. 

A smoke canister is popped signaling the Blackhawks that we are finished for today and ready to return to the safety of FOB Shank.

Next:  Range wars and Kuchi nomads

- by Janet Killeen