The day after the Transfer of Authority I was strongly aware of the fact that we had now replaced our predecessors and must get cracking ourselves. On the first day I directed my attention to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). What a glorious team of motivated people! 110 soldiers and ten civilians working hard together on the development of Uruzgan.

I spoke one by one to the mission teams of the PRT that are each responsible for a specific part of the province. Each one consisted of highly-motivated people, full of ideas about our task here. At the end of the day I carried out my first official duty as the new director of the PRT, namely the change of command of the Police Mentoring Team (PMT). In my speech to the assembled soldiers from the outgoing and incoming PMT I still felt ill at ease. Later in the week I even had to pin well-deserved medals on two soldiers of the PMT.

Meeting the neighbours
The following day I had my first meeting outside Uruzgan. The regional governors were holding a meeting in Kamdahar. In the morning I met up with Governor Hamdan on the helicopter landing pad at Camp Holland. We flew together in an American Blackhawk helicopter over the mountains to Kandahar.

The door of the helicopter remained open during the flight, whereby the view was quite literally breathtaking. The meeting in Kandahar, the theme of which was supporting agriculture in southern Afghanistan, began with a security briefing. I don’t think I have ever taken part in a meeting where you’re asked to lie on the ground in case of a rocket attack.

In the tearoom at Kandahar the various governors took advantage of the opportunity to exchange views about their chances in the upcoming elections. The line-up for the group photo, outside in the unrelenting sun, proceeded hilariously. I’ve seldom seen so many bigwigs walking around looking so disoriented. But of course it all ended successfully.

Finding my feet
I am finding at the beginning that the most difficult thing is keeping a grip on my own agenda. Something demands my attention at every minute of the day, and there’s hardly any time to reflect. Certainly in the run-up to the elections, the days were getting busier and busier. A security incident in Chora was occupying many local minds. I needed the gift of the gab to explain our side of the matter. Then there were discussions with the American and Australian political advisors here at the camp about forming one international team in place of all the loose entities.

A deepening of the civilian contribution to this mission as well as increase in the number of countries that contribute to the Dutch-led Task Force Uruzgan; that was the assignment I brought with me from the Netherlands. The opening of a rebuilt boys’ school in Tarin Kowt, the distribution of diplomas to 200 newly-trained Afghan police officers. In between, visits from all sorts of senior military officers and diplomats. And a series of interviews, from the Netherlands but also, for example, from Switzerland and Australia, to allow General Van Uhm and myself to give a face to the mission, not only to the Dutch people but also to foreign countries.

Sunday
Sunday is called here Low Operations. In other words, the only day of the week when we start later. No unrelenting alarm clock at 6 am, but resting quietly in the sun on a sofa in front of the sleeping quarters. In the sand, a game of volleyball, some sport in the gym where an Australian radio station keeps saying "goodday mate." I take my washing to a seriously large Afghan launderette here at the camp. For a cleaner result, it’s best to put some washing powder in the pockets of your trousers or shirt. In the evening, an interview with Uruzgan FM. A good opportunity to tell the home front in the Netherlands what the country is doing here, for example to support the forthcoming elections.
 

Michel Rentenaar is the Civil Leader of Task Force Uruzgan and Director of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Uruzgan. He writes a regular column for Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
 

RNW translation (as)