In a conflict where victory could hinge on earning civilian trust, Maj. Jeremy Gulley and his team of farmer-soldiers are winning Afghan hearts and minds one greenhouse and chicken coop at a time.

Gulley, principal of Huntington North High School, has spent the past several months overseeing projects aimed at improving agriculture education in Afghanistan’s dangerous Khost province, which borders Pakistan.

He and other members of the Indiana National Guard’s 3-19th Agribusiness Development Team are working with a university, high schools and the Afghan government to make agricultural training more accessible for students and farmers.

Afghanistan was once agriculturally self-sufficient, but 20 years of war have ravaged its production. Decades of fighting have disrupted the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation, Gulley says. And today, Afghan farmers can’t grow surplus farm products capable of competing with agricultural imports.

To help revive the country’s agricultural production, Gulley’s team is building greenhouses, compost sites and other facilities at three Afghan high schools and several other locations throughout the province.

Because few Afghan high school teachers have agriculture-themed lesson plans ready for use, Gulley has asked Hoosier teachers and Future Farmers of America instructors to submit their own plans for use in the schools.

“It’s not every day you get asked to send lessons plans overseas,” said Jay County High School teacher Melissa Muhlenkamp, one of the first to submit a lesson plan. “I felt like it was my duty. I was raised to do things that are right, and that’s one thing I thought was the right thing to do.”

Several other educators, including Ashley Hornbrook at Garrett High School, have submitted plans.

Ideally, Gulley would like to see Afghan students form Future Farmers of Afghanistan groups and participate in agriculture competitions among schools.

In addition to working with high schools, the 3-19th works closely with educators at Shaikh Zayed University, where the team has provided a greenhouse, solar dehydrator, beekeeping kit and poultry house, among other items. Gulley hopes the university can become a bit like Purdue University, providing agriculture training to extension agents and high school teachers.

Although some Afghan students and farmers greeted Gulley’s team with skepticism initially, many have warmed to their presence, Gulley said. He plans to hold a cultural exchange seminar at the university in coming weeks to further improve relationships with students.

“We wear uniforms and carry guns, and that is intimidating to anyone,” Gulley said from Afghanistan. “But the more they are learning about why we’re there, the more open they are becoming toward us.”

The soldiers in 3-19th have been overseas since September and are set to return home in August.

The team includes security guards, agricultural experts and educators.

Although the team has had some “close calls” with insurgents, Gulley said no one in the team has been killed or injured.

Gulley, who has three children, said he misses home but believes he’s at the right place at the right time.

“Everything I’ve learned as a teacher and a soldier I get to apply to improve the lives of Afghans and to help keep America safe,” he said. “I’m where I need to be. When the mission is over and the job is done, then I’ll be ready to come home. But right now we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

dhaynie@jg.net