![]() MaDepartment of the Army announces 1st Armored Division's Sustainment Brigade deployment.AugDepartment of the Army announces 3rd Infantry Division deployment.DecemDepartment of the Army announces upcoming 1st Stryker Brigade, 4th Infantry Division deployment.ApDepartment of the Army announces upcoming 101st Airborne Sustainment Brigade deployment.JDepartment of the Army announces upcoming 4th Infantry Division Headquarters deployment.OctoDepartment of the Army announces upcoming 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters unit rotation.AugArmy announces upcoming 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade unit rotation.AugArmy announces upcoming 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade unit rotation.JanuArmy announces upcoming 10th Mountain Division Headquarters unit rotation.Army celebrates women's contributions and service Army releases a two volume book about Operation Enduring Freedom but then you go and visit with the family and you're like 'this is why I'm doing this, to learn and to help them in any way we can. It's something you could take for granted. "They don't get to go inside the houses they don't get to see how a family interacts with us. "The infantry doesn't see what we see," said Buschman. They realize the demands, as well as the difficulties, of their job but they fully embrace it because their job as FET members enables them to engage the Afghans and show them that they are here to help in a way the soldiers they go on patrols with cannot. "Anytime we get a chance to interact with the locals, we're going to make a difference," said Buschman.īuschman and Ray go on to add that while they have accomplished much up to now, they still have several months left before their deployment is through and hope to use that time to further influence Afghans, both female and male, throughout the district they operate out of. Their job as FET members is part soldier and part diplomat. When asked if they felt they were making a difference, Bushman explained how influential they can be because they are able to engage the families in a way their male counterparts cannot. "One day we sat down and did coloring books with them. It gives them and their mothers a break, however brief, explained Buschman. Battle Company's FET will often reach out to the children in a village as well. Their concern is not solely limited to the female populace. that we do care and that we're here to help them," said Buschman. "By just sitting down and talking with them showing them. It's Ray and Buschman's hope that by sitting down and talking with these women that they will be able to encourage the wives to influence their husbands to stay clear of insurgent affairs and focus instead on bettering their families and their villages. Ray goes on to explain how the women in a village, though not often seen by outsiders, have considerable influence on their husbands, children and their community as a whole. Heather Ray, another FET team member, added. "I volunteered because I heard about the culture and I wanted to make a difference in the women's lives," Spc. "I wanted to get out and see what the Afghan people were living like help out in any way I could." "I wanted to make a difference," said Pfc. Two such soldiers from Battle Company, 5th Battalion 20th Infantry Regiment, Task Force 1-14 Cavalry Regiment located at Forward Operating Base Sweeney in southeast Afghanistan, explained what FET means to them and why they volunteer to work outside their normal military occupational specialties. Having such a team at its disposal has given American forces an added tool in reaching out to the Afghan population in advance of the scheduled troop reduction in 2014. It is comprised of volunteer female members of appropriate rank, experience and maturity to develop trust-based and enduring relationships with the Afghan women they encounter on patrols. Marines Corps and has been around for nearly a decade. So in order to engage the female populace the American Army has established female engagement teams.įET is a program that was started by the U.S. The male soldiers are prohibited from looking at or talking to these women due to Afghan cultural norms which disallow as much. Over the course of the patrols there always exists the possibility of encountering women, given they make up nearly half the population of Afghanistan. ![]() Army) VIEW ORIGINALįORWARD OPERATING BASE LAGMAN, Afghanistan - Throughout Afghanistan, platoons of male soldiers from the Afghan and American forces conduct daily patrols. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL 2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Jacqueline Buschman, Battle Company, 5th Battalion 20th Infantry Regiment, Task Force 1-14 Cavalry Regiment, and their female interpreter, return from a meeting with some Afghan women in the village of Akhvond Qalay, Afghani. ![]()
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