CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Maj. Nina D’Amato, the education officer for Regional Command Southwest, uses her skills as an educator in the United States to help build the education system in Helmand province.

As a middle school vice principal, D’Amato fits the job very well because she understands how school systems are structured and what is necessary for those systems to run properly.

“I am very fortunate, as a Marine Reservist and a middle school principal, I think I bring a very unique background to this position,” said D’Amato. “My training has given me the ability to frame something so massive and put it into slots that people can understand.”

During her deployment, great strides have been made in education in Helmand province. In Marjah, one of the most hostile regions in Helmand province prior to the Marines’ arrival in RC (SW), there were only community-run schools and very few of them. Now there are nine schools in Marjah educating 1,000 students, 40 of which are females. The increase in schools and students shows that progress is being made and D’Amato has been making a difference.

“As I read the reports, I understand that communities want schools across Helmand province,” D’Amato said.

Like many Marines, D’Amato is learning many different lessons she can use when she returns to the states. Carrying a book to write all these down is her way of remembering the lessons learned over the course of her year-long deployment. These lessons range from professional to leadership skills that apply not only to her job as an educator in San Francisco, but also to her future goals.

“The same challenges I have in the United States with teachers and systems and data collection are the same challenges here,” said D’Amato. “The leadership lessons are different, the political lessons I learn are different. So, every lesson I learn I try to write it down, because you can just suck it in.”

D’Amato is also involved with a girls school near Kabul. She is on the board for the school and performs those duties on top of her already large responsibilities of educating the youth here and in the Unitied States. This dedication shows her commitment to the advancement of education in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan will always stay with me,” D’Amato commented. “I hope to go and become a principal when I get back, but I’m keeping my options open.”

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