Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Constable Nehls

Mar08

Meeting the local dignitaries in March.
   

Just a little camaraderie and discussion over the future Hwy 6 speed control equipment:

This photo was taken while Troy was in Iraq 2004

24Mar08

Greetings,

March 22nd was the first day of school for the Afghan children. Our PRT team and newly appointed Ghazni Governor Khosti with string along media held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Moqur School for boys.  Moqur is one of the 19 districts within Ghazni Province.  This school project was built with U.S. tax dollars which provides a high school education for 1,800 students.  The project cost was $300,000.00.. Not bad considering what we spend on high school construction in and around Fort Bend....

Our Civil Affairs Team (CA) pulled a trailer of school supplies which we handed out to the Moqur high school principal. I attached a photo of the school supplies being off loaded. The other photo are a few of the students who are fascinated with U.S. soldiers. I was pleasantly surprised to see of few of the high school students speaking decent English. These kids love receiving gifts as small as a simple pen.  However, one must be careful because kids will gather around you like cats around a dish and paw at your uniform in an attempt to take your pen or whatever else is not firmly attached.  I have raised my voice a few times in order to regain control.

The weather has been nice with temperatures in the mid 60's during the day and 30's at night. The night sky is absolutely beautiful. When time permits, I have taken the opportunity to enjoy a good cigar under the stars. We have not had any rain since arriving February 27th. The big negative is that the dust is horrible and everywhere.

I hope you are doing well.  I will try to email you on a weekly basis.

God Bless,
Troy

This is the latest and greatest Humanitarian project Troy and his Battalion are doing.  He personally prepaid for all the postage in order to ship every box receive from the people of Fort Bend Co.

Today, our team visited the Ghazni Governors compound in order to conduct an assessment for the newly established Project Coordination Office (PCO).   The purpose behind the PCO is to have a central hub for all contracts under construction in the Ghazni province.  Currently, we have over 50 projects to manage valued at over 40 million dollars.  Your tax dollars….These contracts were awarded by the last PRT and we now assume the QA/QC of these projects.  The PCO will employ a five member QA/QC team (quality control) made of local Afghan engineers to manage these projects, with our Navy engineers providing oversight and mentoring.  One of the attached photos:  L to R: an engineer with the Ghazni Province, I, the Ghazni province head engineer, and Governors press secretary. 

We are excited about the PCO.  Our team immediately identified the need to create more transparency in contracting, and the PCO is the mechanism which will provide just that. 

Our second initiative is to open a Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC) next to the PCO.  This CMOC will provide the local populace a front door to the provincial government.  Most CMOC’s are located inside the wire of our Forward Operating Bases (FOB’s).  Statistics show that locals are less likely to visit a CMOC inside the wire because of the security screening that goes along with entering a FOB.  We feel by moving the CMOC to the Governors compound we will have closer access to the people.  Our team of CF will be teaching a variety of classes to locals, such as; business plan development, contract bid process, public speaking, basic electrical work, Civics 101, to name a few.   

I am very fortunate to have such a strong team of Civil Affairs soldiers.  Our entire PRT is made of professional brave young men and woman with a varying degree of skill sets.  I could not be more proud to be a member of the Ghazni PRT. 

The last photo is of an Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier.  He and I quickly formed a friendship as you can see he is wearing my equipment, and I his……….

I will email you again.

God Bless,

Troy

Members of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), along with staff engineers spent most of the morning visiting the Ghazni City Bazaar.  Our mission was to look at the road which travels thru the bazaar and check on its quality.  The prior PRT received funding for paving of the road and we recently received some reports that the road work was not very good.   Our staff engineers inspected the road work while my team of Civil Affairs soldiers walked around the bazaar visiting the various shops. 

A large majority of these shops sell many of the same items.  Many types of seeds, vegetables, flour, corn, were on display outside the shops doors as if it were a sidewalk sale.  You would see men, young and old, sitting around just waiting on their next paying customer.  I purchased a few tea pots, with many of our soldiers forking out a few dollars for keepsakes to send home.

We felt safe walking around the bazaar and were treated as welcomed guests. We immediately drew the attention of the children.  These kids enjoyed speaking with us and were our tails the rest of the visit.  A few spoke decent English.  I have attached a photo of the kids huddled around me in the Ghazni City bazaar.

While touring the bazaar we noticed a few blacksmith shops.  I have attached a photo of one particular shop we visited.  I had the opportunity to jump down into the pit and shape some iron.  The man in the photo said I did a good job and was hired.  

I asked him how long he had been a blacksmith, and he said he began shaping metal at a very young age and has been doing it for 20 years. 

By the way, my salary would be around $1.50 a day.   I did not accept the job.

Thanks again for listening and I will email again. 

Go ROCKETS!!

God Bless,

Troy 

30APR08

Today our team visited the Ghazni Provincial Council (PC) meeting which is held every Wednesday @10am.  Each of the 18 provinces has an elected PC member which are at-large positions.  Worth noting is five of them are female.  It is good to see females assuming these leadership roles at the provincial level.  This is a great start point in bringing more equality to their culture.  I am also discovering that a majority of the PC members represent their districts from inside Ghazni City.  Some will travel to their districts on weekends with others not being seen in their district for months.  I am working on this issue.    

Our visit with the PC members was well received.  I spoke to their number one concern which is PROJECTS.  Our hard earned tax dollars at work.  I have written in previous emails that we have over 50 projects to manage valued at over 40 million dollars.  That being said, a great deal of our time is spent traveling throughout the province looking at these projects.  Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) is very important.  Our intent is to hold contractors responsible for their work and ensure they follow the Statement of Work (SOW) in the contract.  Our PRT engineers have made contractors tear down walls and rebuild foundations as a result of sub-par construction.  Our team is working hard to ensure that the projects which are funded thru the PRT are built to last.  Of course, every PC member would like to see more construction projects within their respective district and they have no issue with expressing their wants.   As a PRT we must be sensitive to their requests and “spread the wealth”.  Overall, I was impressed with the organization and talking points of their meeting.  I have attached a photo.

One day last week our team visited with Ghazni Governor Shir Khosti and his family.  The occasion was his daughters ninth birthday.  Governor Khosti has four children and another on the way.  He is an American citizen and has lived in New York for the past 30 years.  We enjoy working with him and he is good for Ghazni.   Photo attached of the birthday girl and proud father. 

I will email again.  Thanks for listening.

Troy 

05MAY08

Today our team visited the Ghazni Prison which is located on the outskirts of the city.  Our purpose was to meet with the Chief of Laws or Warden, and conduct an assessment of the prison facility.

We began our tour with an hour meeting inside the Warden’s modest office.  He instructed one of the prisoners to serve us hot tea which we drank.  The warden briefed us on the current inmate population as well as his basic immediate needs.   He stated the prison is currently housing 120 inmates, four of which are female.  These inmates have been incarcerated for a variety of crimes including murder, adultery, thievery, and political crimes against the government.   The punishment range includes the death penalty to a few years.  Of the four female prisoners, one has sought refugee because she and her two children have been threatened by the Taliban.  I visited her cell area which was equivalent to a ½ bathroom.  According to the Warden, Afghan law requires that he provide protection to families who seek refugee.

While conducting our assessment we identified several areas which needed improvement.  I have attached photos so you can get a first hand look at the living conditions for a prisoner in Ghazni.  I must be clear that the Warden and his staff are doing a great job in ensuring the prisoners are treated humanely and with dignity.  I was very impressed with the Warden’s willingness to provide for the prisoners.

Photo #302:  Prisoners:  The prisoners in the photo are working on building an office for the Warden.  The Warden lacks office space and he requires the inmates to perform manual labor.

Photo #305:  Their kitchen:  As you can see they cook with an open flame.  They make bread and cook meat. 

Photo #306:   Their shower room.  The inmates carry a bucket of water inside the room and wash themselves.  The room had an odor coming from it like no other. 

Photo #309:  The yard:  The inmates are given two hours of yard time according to Afghan law.  The photo depicts the size of the yard.  No shade and very little to do.

Photo #312:  Patch:  Upon completing our assessment of the facility I presented the Warden with a PCT 4 department patch.  He does not look happy in the photo but he was very excited to see us visit his facility. 

Photo #315:  Necklace:  It is custom for Afghans to present you a gift before you leave.  The necklace was made by inmates at the prison.  I thanked the Warden for his kindness and asked for an additional photo.  My SECFOR LT DePrimo is included in the photo.

The visit was an overall success.  I will take the information gathered during our visit and research options on how we can improve the facility.  The Warden stressed a need for additional perimeter security and concertina wire around the inside.  The prison has only one septic tank and they need it pumped out.  Priority #1. 

My answer to all of this is DO NOT COMMIT A CRIME IN AFGHANISTAN.

God Bless,

Troy 

11MAY08

I will start by wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mothers Day.

For the past few days our team has been traveling throughout the countryside finding working solutions to identified deficiencies.  Currently, we are facing daily security threats within our Area of Operations (AO).  Without proper security, good governance and development are difficult to achieve.  My mission as a PRT leader is to focus on the governance and development issues.  We accomplish this by working hand-in-hand with our active duty maneuver battalion from the 101^st Airborne (Screaming Eagles).  They are in charge of security and their primary focus.  Our team has established a professional working relationship with our active duty comrades and we are all part of one team.  Our motto:  One Team, One Fight!

I stated earlier that we find workable solutions to identified problems.  Ghazni Governor Shir Khosti has addressed security concerns within the Governors compound.  The compound sits on approximately three acres with two entry control points (ECP) leading into the compound.   He shared his concerns about vehicles with hostile intent driving thru one of these ECP’s and detonating within the compound.  The two ECP’s have small teams of Afghan National Police (ANP) searching people and vehicles entering the compound however, a speeding vehicle could penetrate the unimproved security checkpoint and cause catastrophic damage once inside the compound.  This Tactic, Technique, Procedure (TTP) is common in Iraq and becoming more frequent in Afghanistan.  The use of vehicles packed with explosives, known as, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) are a great threat to security in Afghanistan.

This being said, our team, through coordinated effort with our active duty engineers, delivered concrete “Texas barriers” to the Governors compound.  These barriers are placed a few feet away from each other.  The intent is any vehicle entering the compound will need to weave thru these barriers at a slow rate of speed.  A serpentine so to speak.

I have attached a photo of our team placing these barriers on the two ECP’s.

On Thursday, 15^th, our team traveled to Khwaja Omari District located in the northern portion of the Ghazni Province.  Our mission was to participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony of the Jungle Baugh Bridge.  This bridge was funded through the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and bridges a farming area.  The local populace is very happy with the construction of this bridge.

We participated in the ceremony and then traveled further north to the Khwaja Omari District Center where we discussed the road project funded through the PRT.  Currently under construction is an 18K road ($3.2 Million Dollars) which connects Ghazni City to the District Center.  Governor Khosti, the District Administrator and I discussed the blueprints and progress on the road project.  Overall, the road project is on track and we anticipate holding a ribbon cutting ceremony before we leave in Dec/08.  Attached is a photo.

The third photo will make you sweat.  Our PRT funded four guard towers around the District Center.  The photo depicts the technique used to apply concrete to the roof of a guard tower.  The men on the ground floor use shovels to hoist the concrete to the men standing on the scaffolding, who in turn, use shovel’s and hoist the concrete to the men on the roof of the tower.  After watching this for about 15 minutes I needed to sit down… 

I hope you enjoyed the update.

God Bless.. 

Troy

May 21, 2008

Trever attended the ceremony with me and represented the Qalat PRT. 

While at FOB Ghazni I also took a photo with Trever.  I have come to accept the fact that he is 1/2 inch taller than I am.  He has no problem reminding me either.  

 
The activity for the past week has placed a damper on things but we will continue to move forward and do the best we can with what we have.   The morale at the FOB is high and our team has really come together.    
 
Today's rumor is that our new Governor is being relieved of his duties.  This decision is coming down from Kabul and we as a PRT do not play a role it this decision at all.  I enjoyed working with Governor Khosti and felt he was doing a great job.  I will not speculate as to why he is being relieved and will reserve my opinion.  Hopefully his replacement will be as focused and energetic as he was for the betterment of Afghanistan.
 
I will email again.  Thank you all for your kind words during last weeks tragic events.
 
God Bless You,
Troy 

Our PRT visited the newly established Project Coordination Office for Ghazni Province.  We received funding to hire five local Afghan engineers who will be tasked to conduct quality assurance inspections on the numerous projects we have throughout Ghazni Province. 

A photo of the interview committee.

We interviewed 16 applicants.  We required all applicants to possess an engineering degree from a university with five years work experience in the engineering field.  We also preferred the applicant to understand basic English language.  About half did.  Tomorrow we will re-interview five candidates with hopefully offering them positions by the end of the week.

While this was taking place we were also providing security training for the Governor’s body guards at his compound.  I encouraged the Governor to accept our offer to assist in training them as the Project Coordination Office is also located within the compound.  My Polish Army brothers participated in the training.  Our PRT has 30 Polish Soldiers attached and I can say without hesitation that they do a great job and are pleasant to work with.  Attached is photo of me briefing the Afghan National Army (ANA) General on what the training will consist of.   

I also participated in the day long training.

I will email you again.
God Bless.

Troy