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KABUL, Afghanistan – Members of the Afghan Air Force and NATO Training Command-Afghanistan visited a market in Kabul today to buy food which will be distributed to local Afghans that work as contractors on the Afghan air force base here and their families.
“Supporting the contractors is taking care of the troops. They might not be Afghan air force members, but they are part of the team – they contribute so much to our mission,” said Maj. David M. Burnett, the Afghan air force religious and cultural affairs adviser with the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/ NATO Training Command-Afghanistan. “It’s important that we take care of them and their families.”
Burnett said that Col. Basir, the Afghan air force religious and cultural affairs officer, actually came up with the idea for a food drive for the contractors.
“What we are trying to do is get food together so we can distribute it to the contractors on base; many of them are supporting large families. We received donations of money from the states so we could purchase this food,” Burnett said. “Once we had the money in hand and the convoy ready to depart, we went to the trader and purchased large bags of beans and rice, plastic bags to distribute, cooking oil and tea.”
He also said that this is important because coalition troops are trying to help foster the relations between the community and the Afghan air force.
“A majority of the community doesn’t even know that they have an air force, so we are trying to build that relationship and support the local contractors on base that support our mission every single day,” Burnett said.
Burnett said that it brings a tremendous amount of pleasure for him to be involved in missions like this.
“In some cases it really humbles me to see what these guys go through and see them really struggling. Just to be a part of helping and contributing to make their lives a little easier brings joy to me,” Burnett said.
In the coming week, the food will be distributed to contractors and their families on the Afghan air force base.
| Date Taken: | 12.21.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 12.21.2010 10:51 |
| Story ID: | 62400 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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