Jesse Smith sits in his backyard recently. Smith recently returned to Emporia after serving two years as an independent contractor in Afghanistan.
With so much news focused on Iraq, it can be easy to forget that Americans are involved in other countries, such as Afghanistan. CBS news reported last week that attacks in Afghanistan have increased 200 percent and there is talk of sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
Emporian Jesse Smith recently returned after two years in Afghanistan as an independent contractor.
Smith served in Army Special Forces as a Green Beret for 24 years before retiring in 1994. But after 10 years of retirement, he decided to go to Afghanistan as an independent contractor.
Smith gives Gazette readers an idea of what it was like to live there for two years and what progress is being made.
Q Has it been a difficult transition after being in Afghanistan for two years and then getting thrown back into life in Emporia? What have you been doing?
A It has been a real change. For instance when I leave the house, I don’t have to put on body armor. We don’t have to clear the street. I can go places by myself and meet people. It is very settling and calming to travel around Emporia and I have been enjoying the city.
We moved to Emporia about 5 months before I went to Afghanistan, so while I knew my way around town I didn’t have an opportunity to meet people and learn much about the city, what’s offered and the stores. So basically I am exploring a new town.
Q Is it hard to fit back into the family lifestyle?
A After being gone for two years, getting back into the father role is challenging. It’s tough on everybody. My existence in Afghanistan was pretty lonely. But now I am adjusting to helping with kids’ needs, their school work, helping around the house and conversing with Meg (his wife). Re-integrating into the family is difficult and it takes time. The Army provides counseling up to 30 days, but as civilians, we just have to kind of bumble through and go on our own. But it’s good to be able to spend time with them and get to know them again.
Q How would you describe Afghanistan right now?
A Afghanistan is very austere. All the vegetation was destroyed and there are very few trees left. They have either been exported or cut down for firewood. All the infrastructure has been destroyed, either by the Russians or by neglect from the Taliban during their ruling years. All the industry was nationalized and neglected. Afghanistan produces nothing, so everything has to be imported. Other than raising a few crops and establishing agriculture, they have nothing. They are very poor and people are just trying to survive.
Q What were your daily duties like when you where there?
A I am not at liberty to discuss any contractual things I did for the company I worked for. Initially, I did work for the Afghan National Army, the intelligence section for one of the corps of their army. My job was to train them. They were already great fighters and there was nothing to teach them, but they did not know how to care for their soldiers, mission planning, operational planning or those things that you need to have a sustained functional military. So my job was teach the corps how to gather and use intelligence. Later our contract was changed to work with all the corps instead of just one. I was later promoted to deputy director of the corps’ teams.
Q You were in the Special Forces for 24 years did you feel that you were prepared well?
A The Green Beret of the Army has a couple of primary missions. One is direct action — where they go in and wreck something and get out. The other is security and defense and that is what I did primarily. I would go to countries and train forces to become a better military. While I never did work at corps level that experience did prepare me with the ability to train people.
Q Are we making a difference in Afghanistan?
A Absolutely. Afghanistan is primarily manned by the National Guard, reserve and citizen soldiers and they are doing a couple of missions. One is people are sharing their civilian skills — like construction — with the people. It is amazing the goods that are brought in and then shared with Afghan people and the orphanages. And then there is work actively combating the Taliban in the south and east of the country. The third way we are helping is economically — the number of jobs that are provided because we are there.
Q NPR had a report last week about proposals to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Do you think that would help?
A My fear is that America will not give Afghanistan the time it needs to become strong and established. They have a brand new infant democracy and they are learning how to govern. The military is not strong enough by itself to support that new government. But I think with the NATO coalition, we have enough troops in Afghanistan as long as NATO stays on focus to actively seek out and combat the Taliban, then we have enough soldiers there.
Q Were you nervous going over as an independent contractor and not with the military?
A The company I worked for was contracted through the Department of Defense. So we had the support of the U.S. military. At first I was very nervous about being there and traveling around unarmed, but then I found I wasn’t a target and the Afghan people are good folks and they looked after me very well.
We stayed in military secured safe houses. These are public homes that had been rented for our use. These are big houses that could hold up to 50 people. And the military provided emergency response if we ever had any problems, but we never did. We were a bunch of old guys and we just weren’t a target.
Q Would you go back? Did the two years fly by?
A I am 56 years old and I missed Meg and the kids. Before I went, I talked it over with her that I did have the desire to go play with the boys one more time. But after two years, that itch has been scratched and I think I am good to go. The longest months there were the first and last months that I was there. But really the time just flew by. I promised Meg that I would come home. I really had the easy job and she had the hard job of caring for the home and three kids and that was hard on her.
Q Is the Taliban still at work in Afghanistan?
A They are still trying to disrupt the government and strike fear in the people but they just aren’t winning.
Q Now that you are back, do you follow the news over there closely?
A A I get a daily status report on my e-mail but I have deleted every one and haven’t opened them up. It’s time to separate. I am still concerned about what happens there and concerned about the people I know and worked with for two years, but it is time to move on.
Q Was it hard leaving the people that were staying on?
A Yes, they were your family. You live in the same house and your whole social and work life were intertwined. We would get up at 3:45 a.m. and work till 8:30 p.m. It was also hard leaving the Afghan support people. My Afghan son, Whali, was my driver and interpreter. He spent every day with me and he was just a young man at 23. It was hard to say good-bye to him at the airport. But I just kept thinking that there is a home in Emporia that I need to go occupy.
Q If you didn’t have a family, would you go back?
A If I didn’t have Meg and the kids I would still be there. I think the mission is important enough and I was making enough of a difference. Our company is contracted through 2009 and they may stay longer if they get awarded another contract. I would be there every day.
Q Any last thoughts?
A In the 24 years I was in the Special Forces, our creed or motto was “Free the Oppressed.” That is something I gave a quarter of a century of my life to — going out and freeing people. I think that is something that should be a creed for America to free the oppressed. Not only did we respond to an attack, but we made a difference to 25 million Afghanistan people. By freeing them from oppression, we need to stay the course and people need to know how important it is to share freedom around the world.
To give people the right of autonomy and to make their own decisions and a democratic, free government are important. We should pay back whatever has been given to us as a nation and we should give back to the world.
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