Intel officer gets inside look at Afghan culture

GARDEZ, AFGHANISTAN

05.24.2009

Story by Tech. Sgt. Stacia Zachary 

United States Air Forces Central       

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FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan -- Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team convoys traveling to the far reaches of the Afghan border scoping out potential sites for construction of schools, medical facilities or water purification facilities provide many locals the rare opportunity to interact with Americans.

The mission of the Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team includes governance, security and development across one of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Paktya is about the size of Delaware, has a population of more than 500,000, and shares part of its Eastern border with Pakistan. The majority of Afghans living in Paktya province speak Dari or Pashtu.

For coalition forces International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan - such as Paktya's Provincial Reconstruction Team, comprised of more than 80 U.S. personnel from the Air Force and Army active duty, Guard and Reserve elements - these trips would not be successful without an interpreter helping bridge the language barrier between two cultures and whom has intrinsic knowledge of an area. In many places where coalition forces have not visited for several years, all it takes is a smile and a few words spoken in Pashto or Dari to gain their support.

"It's amazing how knowing a few phrases in Pashto or Dari make people feel comfortable," said Capt. Don Moss, Paktya PRT chief of intelligence operations. "Speaking a few words of the native language unlocks layers of a relationship you may have never known. It shows the locals that you respect them enough to have taken the time to learn their language. After that, they begin to gravitate to you in most cases. It's amazing when that happens."

While the PRT employs interpreters so team members can communicate with the local Afghans, Capt. Moss enjoys the rare privilege of being able to speak directly with the local population.

After graduating from Middle East Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School, he then went to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., to learn Arabic. While it was tough at first, Captain Moss soon discovered a love for the complex language.

"It was very demanding in the beginning, but when I was able to dedicate myself to learning the language, I just lost myself in it and really learned to appreciate Arabic," he said.

Although the correlation between Arabic and the local languages of Pashto and Dari may seem an easy gap to overcome, the captain still has some difficulty in piecing together a complete conversation.

"You might think since it's [Afghanistan] near the Middle East it would be easy to jump right in and talk to the Afghan people," Capt. Moss said. "The alphabet is similar to Arabic and that certainly helps, but the vocabulary has been a huge obstacle. Some words have an Arabic origin which makes it easier, but the majority of Pashto and Dari words were simply unique to me."

As an intelligence officer, this distinctive capability helps him get a better grasp for the local atmosphere and its political leanings. This knowledge is put to use when he travels out to the different villages in the Paktya province.

"Being able to read and write parts of the language has been critical to understanding at least some of what the local thoughts, tensions and requirements are for certain areas," Capt. Moss said. "There are still times when I don't say the right thing, but I have fortunately saved myself from some potentially embarrassing situations."

As an intelligence officer for Paktya province, Capt. Moss helps with the planning and execution of PRT missions.

"I also provide atmospherics or human mapping of an area," said the captain. "Going out on missions allows me to gain knowledge of the tribal layout."

This deployment with Paktya's Provincial Reconstruction Team has also opened up another realm of his career field he otherwise would never have experienced.

"In my previous job, I was reading reports and pushing information up the chain. Now, I'm the one who's out there collecting that information and capturing it with my own eyes and ears," Capt. Moss mentioned. "It's a completely different type of satisfaction being at the tip of the intelligence spear."

Capt. Moss is able to use the intelligence he collects to then brief the security forces element and PRT team members who travel to locations which are often hostile and include insurgent elements such as Taliban, Haqqani, HIG and foreign fighters.

"You never know what a place is going to do, so it's important to have good intel," said Army 1st Lt. Nicolas Camardo, Paktya PRT security forces platoon leader. "In this particular territory, there's a lot of rat trails. People are loyal to bad guys out of fear, so my SECFOR guys need to know what the threats are and how to mitigate them so we can ensure safe travel for our engineers, civil affairs teams, and other PRT members, who are all out trying to help Paktya province in Afghanistan progress in security, governance and development arenas."

Going "outside the wire" has proven to be an eye-opening experience for Capt. Moss.

"Being out here in Paktya province so close to the fight and the intelligence I normally have fed back to the U.S. for commanders has made me realize sitting behind a desk has its limitations," he said. "I'm not comfortable sitting around waiting for the information to come to me. Physically going out on convoys, engaging local Afghans and collecting atmospherics in hard-to-reach places allows me to meet fascinating people and hopefully give them a positive impression of the U.S. military. It's also shown me that my limits, both physically and mentally, are a lot further out than I originally thought."

With less than two months of his deployment time remaining in Paktya, Afghanistan, Capt. Moss is certain this assignment has given him the opportunity to see how his work affects service members stateside, deployed and outside the wire.

"Before this deployment, I had only seen one facet of the intel spectrum," Capt. Moss said. "Now, I've had the opportunity to see the importance of accurate information collection. It's brought everything full circle for me, and I'm looking forward to applying what I've learned out here to my work back there."