The Muleskinner Report V4I2 Jul 10

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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



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



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.



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.”





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



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



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.


Photo by Capt. Peter Shinn



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.


Senior Master

Sgt. Counts:

Seventh time is

a charm



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


Special points of

interest:

● Eligible members

with Military Star

Cards can choose

to not make pay-

ments or set up

monthly allotments

during deployment.



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.






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.


Photo by Capt. Peter Shinn Photo by Capt. Peter Shinn



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.




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?

Documents

The Muleskinner Report V4I2 Jul 10