Video (5:11)
SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON FOX AMERICA'S NEWSROOM 1-8-15 - YouTube
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Iowa Veteran, Farmer and Local-Foods Advocate Recognized by White House as a "Champion of Change"
USDA Blog Post:
Sonia Kendrick of Cedar Rapids, IA. Leader. Veteran. Champion of Change.
Sonia Kendrick, who founded Feed Iowa First, a non-profit organization in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was among a small group of local leaders across the nation recognized by the White House recently as “Women Veteran Leader Champions of Change.” The event on March 25 honored women veterans, highlighting their incredible contributions to the country’s business, public and community-service sectors.
Kendrick served in Afghanistan and upon her return was drawn to fighting hunger issues in Iowa through locally-grown food. By identifying available land around churches and other sites in the Cedar Rapids area and securing access to it, she and other volunteers have grown, harvested and donated thousands of pounds of fresh produce to local food pantries and the Meals on Wheels program.
Working closely with USDA Farm Service Agency Iowa State Executive Director John Whitaker and others, Kendrick has created a platform that not only provides access to fresh, health and locally-grown food but creates an opportunity for returning veterans. She has found a great interest in farming among her fellow veterans and engagement with Feed Iowa First is providing experiences that may lead them to a relationship with USDA.
“Through Feed Iowa First, Kendrick has offered other veterans and refugees the opportunity to gain valuable farming knowledge which will help them be successful in their future farming operations,” Whitaker said. “Sonia has played an integral role in educating new farmers about the many FSA loan programs designed to assist them to get started on their own.”
Kendrick works tirelessly to build partnerships, find new alliances, and spread her vision for veterans helping to feed the hungry. She is active in the Iowa Farmer Veteran Coalition and serves as a liaison between that organization and veterans looking at a future in agriculture.
Kendrick estimates it will take 500 acres to provide adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables to the 25,000 people hungry in Linn County in eastern Iowa. Her research indicates 800 acres of underutilized land is owned by churches in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha alone.
“What Feed Iowa First is doing in rural and urban areas is really taking off,” Whitaker added. “Just look around at the explosion of farmers markets, the explosion of local and regional food systems and the number of folks who want that type of food.”
Kendrick is the first to admit farming is hard work. She believes that if anyone has farming in their heart, that doors should be open to allow them to farm.
Indeed, new doors are opening thanks to Feed Iowa First.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
After September 11th, A U.S. Forester in Afghanistan
USDA Blog Post:
Alberto Moreno, a U.S. Forest Service supervisory forester, stands in the Spin Ghar Mountain range at the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan by the Khyber Pass. (Photo courtesy Alberto Moreno)
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, sitting in a small Cessna about to go airborne, the pilot suddenly slowed the plane and aborted the takeoff. He said he had received orders that all flights had been grounded and that any airplanes that did not comply would be shot down by the Air Force.
The United States was under attack.
At the time, my job had been with the Arkansas Forest Inventory and Analysis survey program monitoring plots on the Mississippi Delta. I spent the rest of that day tracking my crews working in the field, and like the rest of the world, tried to comprehend the events as they unfolded.
A few years later, after seeing so many young soldiers lose their lives in Iraq, I had the urge to help in the fight against terrorism. That led me to join the U.S. Army Reserves and train as a military police officer. After receiving my commission as a second lieutenant, I joined a civil affairs battalion because I knew they were going to Afghanistan.
I studied the culture and natural resources in the area of the Paktya province in eastern Afghanistan [under Taliban control] prior to my deployment there in 2009. Access to this rugged, mountainous region is extremely difficult. As the only forester in my unit, I needed to understand what I could bring to the people of the province to help improve their lives. Forests in this mountainous region are very important to the local economies. Villagers had natural resources available to them, but those resources were depleting from heavy localized use and the impacts from more than 30 years of war. The possibility of bringing projects to the villages that the locals could take control of and use to supplement their low income became a popular idea.
An Army unit makes their way to Dangdang village in Pakistan, a 2,000-foot climb to more than 8,000 feet above sea level. U.S. Forest Service supervisory forester Alberto Moreno, part of that unit, served two tours in Afghanistan working with locals to help develop projects that will enhance their natural surroundings and boost the local economy. (Photo courtesy Alberto Moreno)
But before I could help, I knew I needed to gain the trust of the local villagers, meaning I had to make the first move in good faith. I sought out the village elders and local leaders in each of my six assigned districts. My team and I set up weekly meetings with district sub-governors and, as time passed more and more elders came hoping to voice their villages’ needs. As I learned how the locals used the surrounding forests, the civil affairs teams began to introduce projects, including technical training in mechanics and masonry for young men, nursing training for young women, and instruction for tree plantings.
As a forester, I worked with local villagers to improve their lives and become self-sufficient. As a soldier in a war zone I was hit by improvised explosive devices – IEDs – rocketed, ambushed and sniped. I learned what it felt like to lose soldiers who were standing next to me to an enemy ambush. If I hadn’t trusted my gut instincts and completed my final mission in 2010 as scheduled, I would have been in the barracks at the time a suicide bomber attacked. Still, I decided on a second tour, from 2011 to 2012.
Why go back? Afghanistan needs help recuperating, and much of the expertise needed to manage the natural resources in that country has been lost. Like other countries, there is a need to focus on sustainability for the long term and provide the greatest benefit for the Afghan people.
Alberto Moreno is now a supervisory forester with the Rocky Mountain Research Station and is based in Ogden, Utah.
The view of Afghanistan for Albert Moreno focused on natural resources, such as this comfier-junior stand in the Jaji District of that country. Moreno, now a U.S. Forest Service supervisory forester, served two tours in Afghanistan and worked with locals to show them how their forests can work for them. (Photo courtesy Alberto Moreno)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)