Maj. Aniela Szymanski, Civil Affairs Group team leader, smiles with an Afghan girl from Now Zad in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, in 2011. Szymanski and other Marines returned to the once Taliban-ravaged district to help rebuild it into the lush farming community it once was. (Photo courtesy of Maj. Aniela Szymanski)
Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in a two-part series about the district of Now Zad in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, and the Marines responsible for rebuilding it after years of insurgents and unrest.
Hope.
That’s what Marines brought to the people of Now Zad in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2009. Since then, the region had transformed from an insurgent-ridden wasteland to a bustling farming community with a health clinic and a school.
“The Marines cleared out the threat of the Taliban in Now Zad and opened it up to the Afghan locals who just wanted to live happy, normal lives,” said Navy Capt. Thomas A. Craig, now serving as the Emergency Medicine Staff Attending, Deputy Director Warrior Family Coordination Cell at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Although the region was off to a great start, much more needed to be done. In 2011, Maj. Aniela Szymanski, a team leader with the Civil Affairs Group, was sent with other Marines to continue the operation in Now Zad.
Now Zad had once been known for its lush gardens and farmlands, fed from canals and an aqueduct system. These had been almost completely destroyed when the Taliban were eradicated by allied forces. Many Afghans who had once farmed in the region had given up hope and joined the insurgency as a means to make money.
Maj. Aniela Szymanski stands with contractors hired to rebuild Now Zad. Marines provided the resources and a small salary to the Afghan locals so they could rebuild the canals, mosque and other buildings in the region. (Photo courtesy of Maj. Aniela Szymanski)
But the Marines offered the citizens of Now Zad hope for change.
“We gave them the money and things they needed to reconstruct their own mosque and rebuild the canals,” Szymanski said. “In the meantime we also paid the workers a small salary so they could support their families. That way, they had a job and had also rebuilt their own community. The pride and ownership they felt in their work ensured they would protect what they built.”
While citizens rebuilt the physical structures of Now Zad, CAG Marines began to work with the local population on another structure – the local infrastructure. The only way Now Zad would maintain the stability the Marines were offering was with a stable government of their own.
“In Civil Affairs we deal a lot with the civilian population and the local officials,” Szymanski said. “While the infantry is able to concentrate on security operations – targeting the insurgents and training the Afghan National Army and police – my team and I worked with the local government officials to establish a functional government.”
This meant meeting with the local mayor and town leaders to address concerns and empower them to take over leadership in the city. But it would be a gradual process.
“The citizens of Now Zad didn’t seem to have a problem trusting the Marines because they saw the good work we were doing and they saw results from our actions,” Szymanski said. “They had more of a problem trusting their own government. What we worked on every day was getting them to understand that their government was the one that was going to be there for them. The Marines wouldn’t be here forever.”
The transition of power was more difficult than Marines anticipated. To begin putting power back in the hands of the local government, Szymanski and the other Civil Affairs Marines never conducted meetings or made community decisions without the presence of village leaders.
Maj. Aniela Szymanski is joined by citizens of Now Zad on a walk through the district in 2011. Szymanski and other Marines gave hope to the devastated region by restoring the canals and allowing the citizens to continue farming. (Photo courtesy of Maj. Aniela Szymanski)
“It was a gradual process, but it was pretty successful because the people started to see responses from the government officials,” Szymanski said. “They started to believe that if they brought their issues to the local government, they would get resolved.”
Slowly, the local government began to handle most of the operations while the Marines simply advised when needed.
Throughout the seven-month deployment, Szymanski and her team’s work with the local government brought peace and stability to the region. Although the Civil Affairs team never physically fought the Taliban, their work in Now Zad was just as influential in decreasing the grip of insurgency on the region and protecting the lives of their fellow Marines, Szymanski said.
“What we do is really saving Marines’ lives,” Szymanski said. “We are creating an environment where the Afghan people don’t want to fight us; they want to work with us. They want what we have; they want the assistance that we can bring. They know if they fight us, they won’t get it, but if they cooperate with us, they will.”