NYC commanders lead OEF units years after home-town terror attacks

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Air Force Lt. Cols. Eric Hommel and Andy Veres and U.S. Navy Cmdr. Lawrence Vasquez, each one a New Yorker, simultaneously served as a commander of a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan throughout 2009 and the beginning of 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A mix of civilian agencies and U.S. military forces, PRT's work to promote conditions of self-sufficiency, enduring prosperity, and a secure, stable environment. From wells to roads to schools, the teams are helping to rebuild Afghanistan following 30 years of bloodshed. All three of these officers from "the old neighborhood" are making great sacrifices for the people of Afghanistan. Furthermore, all three attribute their tenacity and their willingness to serve to their New York upbringing.  

FARAH, AFGHANISTAN

02.13.2010

Story by 2nd Lt. Karl Wiest 

Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah

FARAH, Afghanistan — Sinatra described it as the city that never sleeps, while Billy Joel immortalized New York as a state of mind. Many consider it a symbol of opportunity and freedom — the epitome of the American experience. Some simply see the inherent economic interests; others only see the history — the good and the bad. For centuries people from all walks of life have attempted to describe the sites, the sounds, and the soul of New York City.

But for three PRT commanders in Afghanistan, well, they simply just consider it home.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Lawrence Vasquez and U.S. Air Force Lt. Cols. Eric Hommel and Andy Veres, each one a New Yorker, simultaneously served as a commander of a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan throughout 2009 and the beginning of 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A mix of civilian agencies and U.S. military forces, PRT’s work to promote conditions of self-sufficiency, enduring prosperity, and a secure, stable environment. From wells to roads to schools, the teams are helping to rebuild Afghanistan following 30 years of bloodshed.

"It is pretty remarkable," said Cmdr. Vasquez, the commander of the Farah PRT in Western Afghanistan and a Naval Aviator. "To have three guys who all grew up in the boroughs, serving thousands of miles away together in the same position, at the same time, and with all the same goals, it just doesn’t happen very often."

Vasquez, a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and Baruch College, grew up in the South Bronx after his parents moved to the city from Puerto Rico in the 1940’s; in fact his father, a teenager at the time, was en route to the States on a ship outside New York when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor igniting America’s involvement in World War II. Decades later, a different surprise attack, this time in his own hometown, would launch yet another war — one that would require Vasquez himself to deploy.

"Every time I think about New York and every time I think about 9/11 it makes me focus on service — service to my country and service to others," said Cmdr. Vasquez. "Growing up in New York teaches you perseverance. It teaches you not to take anything for granted and to appreciate each opportunity and each chance you get. Now, as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, I’m in Afghanistan and I’m working to give other people who are underprivileged a much needed chance."

Working alongside Cmdr. Vasquez and bringing a very similar New York blue-collar background to the fight is U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Hommel, the Commander of the Panjshir PRT in Eastern Afghanistan.

Born and raised in Flushing, Queens, Lt. Col. Hommel’s father, Richard, was a NYPD officer for 33 years, serving a majority of that time in the 90th precinct in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, after he grew up in Ridgewood, Queens. His mother, also from Ridgewood, was a NYC public school teacher working in elementary education in the Lower East Side and then in P.S. 162; she retired after a 30-year career. To say the least, service runs in the Hommel family and Lt. Col. Hommel and his service with the PRT is a testament to that lineage.

"The experience of growing up in the city with civil servant parents has helped me understand and empathize here with the Afghans," said Hommel. "What my NYPD father made perfectly clear to me over 25 years ago still resonates with me today, ‘the vast majority of the people are good people just trying to make their way through life, I'm there for them’."

Historically, Panjshir is known for Ahmed Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panjshir", who famously held out against massive offensives by the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s. Tragically, Sept. 9, 2001, two days prior to the attacks on New York City, Massoud, an important US ally, was assassinated by a suicide bomber.

South of Panjshir is Zabul province where U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Andy Veres, a first generation immigrant who was born in Romania and who grew up in Queens, is the commander of the Zabul PRT.

Veres, whose parents first lived in Italy before ultimately moving to New York in search of work and a better way of life, commuted from Queens to Manhattan to go to school.

"I always lived in ethnically and religiously diverse neighborhoods, which I think broadened my perspective so as to be able to work with various groups, including the people of Afghanistan, more effectively," said Veres. "My parents also instilled in me a sense of gratitude for the opportunities available to those willing to apply themselves in the United States, which positively influenced my desire to select military service for my career."

Before immigrating to America and New York specifically, Veres and his family witnessed what it was like to live under an oppressive regime, similar to that of the Taliban, enabling him to truly understand the inherent opportunities brought on by equality, education, and freedom — or the lack there of.

"It's really easy for me to answer when people ask why I am in Afghanistan," Veres said in an interview in December. "When I look into the eyes of the children of Afghanistan, I can't bring myself to turn my back on the absolutely crippling needs of this society. More importantly, the ideology that is capable of throwing acid on a young girl's face simply because she is going to school is part of the same mindset that carried out the attacks of Sept. 11th on the United States.

"The boys and girls of the next generation of Afghanistan need a little help on their way to a brighter future, and our team is here to reassure them that they will not have to confront this mutual adversary on their own."

All three of these officers from "the old neighborhood" are making great sacrifices for the people of Afghanistan. Furthermore, all three attribute their tenacity and their willingness to serve to their New York upbringing. Thanks to their efforts and those of thousands of other Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines just like them, the Lady standing in the hometown harbor of these three commanders can still proclaim ... " Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!".

• Date Taken: 02.13.2010
• Date Posted: 03.11.2010 00:46
• Story ID: 46492
• Location: FARAH, AF