Local villagers and Mississippi National Guard members, Sgt. Josh Niolet, 29, from Raleigh, Miss., and Sgt. Paul Marshall, 43, from Terry, Miss., peer into a karez from above while other Miss. NG members of the Zabul Agricultural Development Team inspect the karez for damage in Terwoki, Afghanistan, Dec. 14, 2012. A karez is a system of underground channels that carry water from the aquifer at higher elevations to areas down slope. U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Lori Bilyou
Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/image/809717/ancient-aqueducts-receive-cleaning#.UQXkQB00WSo#ixzz2JEa25kgh

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Story by Sgt. Lori Bilyou

Subterranean aqueducts, or karez in Persian, have provided rural Afghan villages with water for centuries in a land perpetually challenged with poor resources. In many places throughout the war torn country, however, karez have fallen into disrepair. The Mississippi National Guard Agricultural Development Team is working in Zabul province, Afghanistan, to help villagers repair the problems caused by years of neglect.
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Lt. Col. Stephanie Purgerson poses for a photograph with young residents of a Kabul area village near Camp Phoenix. Purgerson is the camp commander and conducts foot patrols throughout the community to learn how Soldiers can better support Afghanistan.

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Story by Capt. Marvin Baker

To help Afghan women who live and work around Camp Phoenix, in Kabul, Task Force Centurion regularly hosts local women’s bazaars on the camp and plans to build or renovate area schools, especially those for young girls.
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Afghan workers prepare for the opening of the new Qalat slaughterhouse in Qalat district of Zabul province, Afghanistan. Photo by 1st Lt. Davin Fischer

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Story by 1st Lt. Davin Fischer

With the Castle of Alexander the Great as a backdrop, Afghan government leaders in the Zabul Provincial Capital of Qalat gathered to open a new slaughterhouse facility for use in the city’s livestock trade.

Planning for the slaughterhouse has been in the works since November, 2011. The butchers and traders of Qalat, the mayor of Qalat, the Director of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, RampUp South, United States Agency for International Agency, Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team and Zabul Agri-Business Development Team, worked together in partnership with each other to determine the location, and design of the facility.
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An Afghan policewoman shares the art of Henna tattoos with Capt. Erin Barrett, the 503d Military Police Battalion -Airborne-, 16th Military Police Brigade Female Engagement Team officer in- charge, during a FET meeting at an Afghan Uniformed Police station in Kandahar City, Afghanistan Aug 9. The 503d MP BN is deployed to southern Afghanistan as Task Force Ripcord and member of the Combined Task Force Lancer led by 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Dakia McLean

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Story by Staff Sgt. Bryan Dominique

The 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne), 16th Military Police Brigade Female Engagement Team held a meeting with two female Afghan Uniformed Police officers in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Aug. 9.

The Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 503d MP Bn (ABN) is deployed to southern Afghanistan as Task Force Ripcord and member of the Combined Task Force Lancer, led by the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

The FET, led by Capt. Erin K. Barrett regularly meets with women living in Kandahar, Afghanistan to help bridge a cultural divide that their male counterparts often cannot facilitate.

The Aug. 9 engagement was held to discuss the AUP Professionalization Program being developed by the TF Ripcord FET.

The program will seek to partner select female members of TF Ripcord with female AUP to share with them their professional and personal experiences working as military policewomen.

The Afghan policewomen stated they would like to receive instruction in community policing operations and how to effectively move and protect civilians when fired upon.

According to the Afghan policewomen, female soldiers have a wealth of knowledge and experience they would like to benefit from for themselves.

The Professionalization Program is still being developed and coordinated with the AUP leadership.

The TF Ripcord FET will continue to train and assist their Afghan female counterparts in reaching professional success while the program continues through the development and implementation process.

Members of the International Security Assistance Force, Force Re-Integration Cell get together July 18, on ISAF Headquarters, to hand over donations they gathered for Muzghan Masoomi, a 22-year-old girl from Kabul, Afghanistan, who was savagely attacked. Her attacker brutally stabbed her almost a dozen times because she chose to work to help her family.

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Story by Staff Sgt. Nestor Cruz

The woman walked into the garden with small, careful steps and the help of a cane. The people gathered there greeted her with applause as she slowly made her way to a chair.

Muzhgan Masoomi survived a brutal attempt on her life. The 22-year-old was on the way to work at the Ministry of Public Works in the early morning hours of March 28. A man wielding a large knife attacked Masoomi and her sister. The sister received minor stab wounds but Masoomi took the brunt of the attack.
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