LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
When Tech. Sgt. Debbie Taylor thought it was time to move on from San Antonio, she had to figure out how to get the Air Force to allow her to do so. She not only figured it out but managed to get about as far away as she could: Alaska.
Sergeant Taylor and 78 other Air Force and Army personnel volunteered to be part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team and left for Afghanistan for 15 months, helping build schools and roads, and work with the local government to decrease corruption. In exchange, they were given special privileges.
"One of the benefits is you usually get a two-year assignment deferment or base of preference," said Master Sgt. James Fleming.
"I've been in the area for seven years," said Sergeant Taylor, explaining her upcoming move. "I wanted to explore something different, so I chose a base in Alaska."
Sergeant Fleming chose the other option.
"The assignment deferment worked out well with my kids in high school," he said. "Quite frankly, it was a great mission. It sounded like it was something that was the chance of a lifetime."
This PRT, PRT Bagram, based out of Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, covered two provinces, Parwan and Kapisa. PRTs usually cover one province.
Some team members said they had a more difficult time overseas because of a mixture of two branches of the military.
"Getting used to Army life was hard," said Master Sgt. Jonathan Hernandez, shaking his head. "We're Air Force, and it's the way we interact with each other. Then the Army came in and it was different. It took a lot of getting used to."
Others said the most difficult thing about the mission was the constant turnover in security.
"We trained for two and a half months at Fort Bragg with infantry guys and as soon as we touched base in Afghanistan we lost them," said Sergeant Taylor. "Another group had taken them. They gave us another group of infantry guys and then we had those for about three weeks, then we lost them. Then we had a group of [military police] come with us. They stayed with us the longest, but their tour is a year total. They left before we did and we got another group."
One of the things the sergeants said was not a problem was any kind of language barrier.
"There's a language barrier, but they're eager to talk to Americans or the coalition forces. The children, amazingly, learn quite a bit of English in the school, so it wasn't uncommon for the kids to come up and recite ABCs," said Sergeant Fleming. "That may be all they knew, but they wanted to come up and say their ABCs in English and show that off. We had interpreters assigned. They were able to help out. You picked up some of the language as well. You learn certain phrases to help you out, like 'stay back,' so you can communicate with them."
Others said the accommodations were uncomfortable but adequate.
"They were 16-by-32 framed-in facilities, said Master Sgt. Paul McIndoe, who was part of the Qalat PRT. "Like a hardback tent. We had port-a-potties, but sometimes we had trailers come in with showers and bathrooms in them."
Despite the problems, all of the sergeants agreed it was a mission worth repeating.
"For me it was visiting the orphanages that did it," said Sergeant Fleming, his eyes holding a glazed-over look as he thought back to his time with the Afghani children. "We had orphanages we visited a couple of times, and just seeing the kids. There was a little boy one of the times.
The Afghans are a tough people, and it's all about survival. If you're small you get bowed over sometimes. They were handing out school supplies and toys and he was just too small, so I took him some stuff over and he shoved it all inside his jacket so the bigger kids didn't get it."
Most of the sergeants said they would do it again, if given the opportunity.
"It was the chance of a lifetime for my career field, to get in there and do something," said Tech. Sgt. Luis Quijano. "I just wanted to do my part."
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," said Sergeant Fleming. "It's just something that you go home at the end of the day and you know that's why you're over there. Hearts and minds. The theory being that when [those kids] grow up [they'll] know what we've done and why we're over there."