Sixty-four citizen/soldiers of the Indiana National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Teams are to be deployed in Khost Province, one of the Afghan-Pakistani border region’s most dangerous hotspots.
The Agribusiness Development Team’s 16 experts who will be protected by 35 Hoosier National Guard soldiers—both burly southern Indiana farm boys and urban guys from Gary, Indiana, will use their varied civilian expertise—especially agricultural expertise—to win the trust of the Afghani rural population wavering between the influence of the Taliban and Kabul’s American-backed national government.
Journalist Douglas Wissing is living and working with the National Guard troops as they help farmers in the Khost region to improve their agribusiness and economic productivity.
Wissing’s series of reports air as available Monday during Morning Edition at 8:35 and 11:55am, and 5:45pm during All Things Considered on WFIU HD1. Cultivating Afghanistan will run on Fridays at these times beginning in February.
Friday, Mar 12, 2010
The Indiana National Guard 1-19th Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT, has finished its mission to Afghanistan. In this final segment of WFIU’s series, “Cultivating Afghanistan,” Douglas Wissing reports on the team’s homecoming.
Tuesday, Mar 9, 2010
The Indiana National Guard has made a five-year commitment to agricultural development in Khost Province, Afghanistan. As the first Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT, finishes up its deployment, the second ADT organizes to replace them.
Friday, Mar 5, 2010
Counselors often tell soldiers the price is freedom is high—very high. Not just for the soldiers, but also for their families.
Friday, Feb 19, 2010
Though the Indiana National Guard's Agribusiness Development Team is posted to Forward Operating Base Salerno, a hot spot in eastern Afghanistan, it’s seen relatively few casualties. But there are still insurgent attacks on the base where the team is stationed.
Friday, Feb 19, 2010
As the Indiana National Guard 119th Agribusiness Development Team ends its deployment in eastern Afghanistan, it faces numerous challenges. including the medical issues some returning veterans face when they arrive home.
Friday, Feb 5, 2010
The Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT, is on a complicated mission in eastern Afghanistan. In this segment of WFIU’s ongoing series “Cultivating Afghanistan”, reporter Douglas Wissing reports on the team’s efforts to combat Afghan corruption.
Monday, Jan 25, 2010
The Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT, has suffered few serious injuries during its tenure in Afghanistan. In today’s segment of WFIU’s ongoing series “Cultivating Afghanistan”, reporter Douglas Wissing investigates the ADT’s medical care.
Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010
In his time with the Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT, reporter Douglas Wissing has eaten a lot of military base food of the ADT. In this segment of his series “Cultivating Afghanistan,” Doug chews on the matter of feeding an army…
Monday, Jan 11, 2010
WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing is back in Afghanistan continuing his coverage of the Indiana National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT. In this segment, the ADT is in Taliban country to oversee one of its projects.
Monday, Jan 4, 2010
WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing has returned from his second tour of duty covering the efforts of the Indiana National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Team. Today we begin a second installment of our series “Cultivating Afghanistan” with an update on the team’s progress and some of the obstacles it now faces in a Taliban-controlled district.
Friday, Aug 28, 2009
WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing sums up the first installment of "Cultivating Afghanistan" with a conversation with a leading American commander.
Wednesday, Aug 19, 2009
The war in Afghanistan affects not only the soldiers fighting it, but their spouses back home. And it has different consequences each time a loved one deploys.
Thursday, Aug 13, 2009
Four female soldiers are part of the Indiana National Guard’s 1-19th Agribusiness Development Team, or ADT. In this segment of WFIU’s series “Cultivating Afghanistan,” reporter Douglas Wissing talks with the ADT women about their experiences.
Friday, Jul 31, 2009
American-led coalition forces are waging a complicated counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, where critics say well-meaning military development projects can be problematic, and errant use of firepower a disaster.
Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009
As they pursue their aid mission in eastern Afghanistan, the Agribusiness Development Team contends with a complicated insurgency that operates in an intricate, tribal culture. The ADT soldiers use specialized social scientists, both in Afghanistan and back home in Indiana, to better understand Afghan societies.
Monday, Jul 20, 2009
Over the past two months, you’ve heard WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing talk about Forward Operating Base Salerno, the remote home away from home for the Indiana National Guard’s 1-19th Agribusiness Development Team. In today’s feature, a look at a day in the life of the base in Eastern Afghanistan.
Friday, Jul 10, 2009
WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing has returned from his first embed with the Indiana National Guard's 119th Agribusiness Development Team in insurgency-plagued Khost Province, Afghanistan –- an area so dangerous that constant security is crucial to the humanitarian mission.
Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009
As part of its mission in Afghanistan, the Indiana National Guard's Agribusiness Development Team must determine which products farmers should raise. As WFIU's Douglas Wissing reports, it's both a public relations battle and an information gathering challenge.
Monday, Jun 29, 2009
Earlier this month, a funeral was held on the base for a Georgia National Guardsman who was killed on a road WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing had traveled two weeks prior. In this segment of WFIU's continuing series "Cultivating Afghanistan," a look back at the farewell offered to a fallen comrade.
Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
The Indiana National Guard's 119th Agribusiness Team is working to improve breeding and feeding of animals in Eastern Afghanistan.
Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009
Water can be hard to come by in eastern Afghanistan, making farming that much more difficult. As a result, the farmer-soldiers of the Indiana National Guard's 119th Agribusiness Development Team have begun working to make irrigation more sustainable.
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009
Though The Indiana National Guard's 119th Agribusiness Team is in Afghanistan to help farmers, that doesn't mean their mission is not fraught with danger.
Wednesday, Jun 3, 2009
The Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team is in Khost, one of Afghanistan’s most violent provinces. WFIU reporter Douglas Wissing recently set out to join them. It took him months to plan his trip to Afghanistan. Then it took him several harried days to get there.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team has been deployed in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan for about three months now, on a mission to teach improved agricultural techniques. But how does a group of 64 Hoosier men and women learn how to work in this remote central Asian country?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
This month, WFIU news begins an ongoing series which will take one journalist from the farm fields of Indiana to their counterparts in Afghanistan.
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