The 734th conducted Women’s Animal training at the Chowkay girls school as well as a class on personal hygiene. The class included information on rabies and care of livestock as well as information on fleas and lice. The women were eager to learn about ways to prevent these common issues and excited to receive the care packages of hygiene products that many of our supporters have donated. Afterwards, the women ate lunch together and received their diplomas.

The Iowa National Guard's 734th Agribusiness Development Team got some extensive agricultural training. Agricultural specialists with the 734th ADT got intensive classroom and hands-on training from Iowa State University Extension specialists in everything from small-scale chicken farming to basic crop production. 

About 50 years ago, Afghanistan was one of the more rapidly developing nations in Central Asia. But beginning in the mid-1970s, civil unrest and warfare destroyed much of Afghanistan's agricultural infrastructure. Today, the majority of Afghan farmers use draft animals instead of farm machinery for their fieldwork.

Basic livestock disease prevention protocols are not widely practiced. Foot and mouth disease is endemic, which is why much of the training ISU provided to the Iowa ADT hearkened back to practices a hundred years old or more.

Not only was the ISU training specific to the conditions the ADT was likely to find in Afghanistan, it was also extremely broad-based.

I would describe the training's wide scope as an advantage. We've all learned a little bit about everything. That certainly made us much more ready to handle the mission in front of us.