Major Nicholas Dickson, US Army, supported the 101st Airborne Division as a Civil Affairs (CA) Officer in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 during Operation Enduring Freedom. MAJ Dickson discusses his primary responsibility of augmenting Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), groups composed of military and government agency personnel (including the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)) concerned with the reconstruction of the government and infrastructure of Afghani provinces, in conjunction with local political leadership. MAJ Dickson discusses the difficulties of this mission, compounded by the multiple agencies involved, the multiple Regional Command (RC) boundaries, and the involvement of various coalition forces and the need to coordinate with all of these different players. MAJ Dickson concludes his interview by observing that in spite of all of these factors, they successfully carried out their mission and were able to effect real change.

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