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Air Date: January 27, 2010
To Listen to this program 24/7 at your convenience go to:
www.talkshoe.com/tc/19487 Episode 140
LIVE from Afghanistan
LTC Michael Forsyth
Ft Carson Battalion Commander
2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment
4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
With Nuristan Provisional Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan
http://www.prt-nuristan.blogspot.com/
What a PRT is:
A Provincial Reconstruction Team is a task oriented civil military organization tailored to a specific region that coordinates civil and military operations in order to reach three main objectives; enhance security, extend the reach of the Afghan Central Government, and facilitate reconstruction.
PRT Nuristan's Mission:
To work in close coordination with the Nuristan provincial government, district governments, and local leaders works in order to extend reach of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, through economic development, infrastructure, countering Anti Afghanistan Forces propaganda, and to support security collaboration through Ft Carsons 2-77 Field Artillery Task Force Steel Mountain Warriors, as well as, Afghanistan National Security Forces.
Host: Bob Calvert
Guests:
LTC Michael J. Forsyth, Battalion Commander
2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment
4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
Michael Forsyth is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and has served on active duty for 20 years as a Field Artillery Officer.
He is currently the commander of the 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and has three combat tours during his service in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan.
He has authored two books about Civil War campaigns titled The Red River Campaign of 1864 and the Loss of the Civil War by the Confederacy (McFarland & Co. Publishers, 2002) and The Camden Expedition of 1864 (McFarland & Co. Publishers, 2003).
He holds a M.A. in military history from Louisiana State University and a Master of Military Art and Science from the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS).
NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Forsyth, from Mayfield, Ky., the commander of the 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, addresses issues of the educational system with line directors and teachers from across eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province on Forward Operating Base Kalagush, Dec. 15. The meeting was held as a chance for the elders and teachers of the districts to speak on what is most important and what needs to be done, in order to improve the education of the children in Nuristan. (photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins, Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs)
NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Forsyth, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Mountain Warrior, hosted an education shura with Afghan government officials and teachers from all over eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province to discuss issues regarding the education system and ways to improve it, on Forward Operating Base Kalagush, Dec. 15.
There are many problems facing Nuristan province’s education system, including a lack of government funding.
Classes are offered to students ranging from primary grades through high school, with males and females attending separate schools.
One district in the area faces the problem of having to join females and males in the same school, because there is not enough funding to build a separate girls’ school. Because of the mixture of the two genders, the government does not recognize a portion of the students, so the school does not receive the proper supplies or the funding needed to educate all of the students.
Another problem is educated, professional teachers often refuse to travel to the more dangerous areas in the province. This has resulted in a student to teacher ratio of 60 to 1 in some areas.
To add to the minimal amount of teachers in the province, some teachers do not show up because they are not getting paid, which causes headmasters to pay out of their own pockets.
Educational line directors, sub-governors, headmasters and teachers from various villages in Nuristan met with Forsyth to explain these and other issues they face and how to solve them.
“We all met here to determine what their needs are as far as education in the local area,” Forsyth, a native of Mayfield, Ky., said. “Only the teachers themselves know what difficulties they all face, so meeting together can help us determine, as a whole, what the needs are before we can take that next step into progression.”
The shura unveiled the three main issues that need to be addressed.
The first is professionalism of the teachers. In order to complete that task, seminars will be scheduled and held on FOB Kalagush, beginning in the near future.
The second issue is teaching materials, which the International Security Assistance Forces hope to be able to provide.
The third is a lack of infrastructure, such as buildings in which to hold classes, power, water, and roads.
ISAF will help the Afghans accomplish these goals, but it is going to take time, diligence, and cooperation between the Coalition Forces and the Afghan people
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