ANA and ANP conduct humanitarian aid mission

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Members of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police, partnering with the U.S. Army, conducted a humanitarian aid mission to three villages in a particularly volatile area of Paktya province, Jan. 16.

Soldiers from 3rd Co., 1/1 Kandak of the Afghan National Army and police officers of Afghan National Police distributed more than 100 bags of food supplies, 100 bags of school materials, and 200 hand-crank radios to the residents of Sar Mast Kheyl, Pateh Kheyl  and Raman Kheyl.

The ANA and ANP unloaded the humanitarian assistance supplies at Sar Mast Kheyl and Raman Kheyl, knowing the residents of Pateh Kheyl could easily walk to Sar Mast Kheyl. Over the course of a long discussion with the village elders, it was decided that each household would get one bag of food, one bag of school supplies, and one radio. The aid was distributed in an orderly fashion without incident.

The objective of the mission was to help build confidence in the ANA and ANP as institutions, which had been undermined in the eyes of locals due to both real-life corruption and Taliban misinformation campaigns to exaggerate the problems, said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Troy Arrowsmith, the first sergeant for Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team who helped oversee the American component to the mission.

“The whole purpose behind today was to let the ANA and ANP show a different face to the populous, to say ‘hey, we’re here to help you guys,’” Arrowsmith said.

Since the mission involved building up the image of the Afghan institutions, the Arrowsmith tried to minimize the presence of the U.S. component, he said.

Nevertheless, Soldiers of 3rd Platoon Zormat, 92nd Military Police Co., 709th Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade and 1st Platoon, A Co., 1st Battalion,   121st Infantry Regiment assisted with security and supervision at the request of Afghan National Army Capt. Ghulam Habiib, the 3rd Co. commander.

In addition, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Quitze Garcia, a civil affairs noncommissioned officer for Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team, used her skills as a medic to help some of the civilians. She administered very basic health care to about 75 women and children and distributed about 40 bottles of one-a-day vitamins.

“For me it was a very successful mission because we were able to engage with the females,” Garcia said, adding that women in the area don’t often have a chance to talk with others.

“It was good to be able to help them out a little bit with just some basic, basic needs,” she said.

At the end of the meeting with the village elders, one of the locals asked if Arrowsmith had anything to say.

“We are here to help,” he said. “We want to make a safer Afghanistan so we can go home to our families, too.”