The Emporia Gazette

February 14, 2012

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The Afghan National Army Band is filled with more musical notes these days thanks to the efforts of an Emporian.

Brad Harzman, who was serving in the military in Afghanistan, returned to Emporia just in time to participate in the Veterans Day Parade. He was deployed to Afghanistan to work with their National Army Band.

“Which was pretty cool because Emporia has a long history of involvement in the Veterans Day celebration, so I was very happy about that,” Harzman said Wednesday morning in an interview.

Harzman has been in the military for 22 years and 2008 marks his second year of active duty. Afghanistan was his first deployment. He was stationed at Camp Phoenix, which is outside Kabul.

“It was a great experience and met a lot of good friends,” he said. “I enjoyed myself and that’s why I decided to stay on active duty.”

Harzman volunteered for the deployment after hearing the position was open. He was in Afghanistan for a year. Here at home, he is a part of the Kansas National Guard Band, 35th Division Band, out of Olathe. In Afghanistan he was an advisor to the Afghan National Army Band. During his service, he worked with the local band commander running rehearsals and working with each of their staff positions including logistics, training and doing what he could do to help the program run more efficiently.

“This is the highlight ... ” Harzman said. “I was able to secure nearly $190,000 worth of funding to buy musical equipment. It was purchased from Flint Hills Music here in town.”

Military bands across the world have long traditions.

“Military bands are a part of preserving the culture, preserving traditions and a part of celebrations,” He said.

Harzman taught band at Northern Heights High School for 13 years, which is why he was interested in the position in Afghanistan.

For 15 years, music in Afghanistan was silenced, Harzman said. During the time of the Taliban, there was no music in the country.

“If you were a musician you put your music away,” he said. “If the Taliban saw you going down the street with a cassette player, they would take the cassette player and beat you. At the least.”

Many of the musicians either got different jobs or took off to another country, Harzman added. Harzman said he really encouraged the Afghan band commander to push for a standing military school of music because many of the members of the band now are aging.

“While I was there they had just begun the process of starting to have a standing military school of music,” he said. “They had run their first crop of students through.”

During his time in Afghanistan, Harzman said the band gained in popularity.

“Everybody is happy with the band,” he said. “The band is beginning to be supported.”

While in Afghanistan, Harzman learned a lot about their culture, he said. He said if he was out on the street and met a family and had a piece of candy in his pocket and gave it directly to the child, it would be considered an insult because he didn’t give it to the father to give to his child.

“In the U.S. I wouldn’t think twice about giving it to the child,” he said. “(In Afghanistan) you have to say to the father, ‘Your family is very beautiful. Would you like a piece of candy to give to your child?’”

Harzman also noticed several other things while stationed in Afghanistan.

“They are building as fast as they can in Kabul,” he said. “I sense that the civilians in Kabul (know they) have the opportunity to better their lives and they’re taking advantage of it.”

Harzman talked about the atmosphere in the country. He said he hasn’t been there in a month so his observations are based on that period.

“It’s a war zone,” he said, adding that troops receive hazard pay for being in the area. “You couldn’t go out by yourself. You had to have somebody with you. You had to go out in Humvees with guns loaded.”

Every night Harzman would be thankful that he was safe and every morning he would be thankful for a new day, he said. He added that he is very proud of what he did while in Afghanistan.

“I know I made a lasting impact on military music there,” he said. “I would do it again if I had the chance.”

The next step in Harzman’s military career is to train soldiers to go to Iraq and Afghanistan. He will be in training the next couple of weeks in Mississippi for this position.