Posted July 2, 2010
Members of the 734th Agri-Business Development Team (ADT) of the Army and Air National Guard stationed at Camp Dodge in Des Moines were treated to a catered family picnic June 30, a day before the team’s deployment to active service in Afghanistan.
The ADT is a self-contained volunteer unit of about 60 members with backgrounds and expertise in various sectors of agri-business. The 734th’s mission is to provide training and advice to Afghan universities, provincial ministries and local farmers with the goal of providing increased stability and improved opportunities for Afghanistan’s re-emerging agri-business sector.
Two members of the team are Iowa pork producers who are proud to serve their country and looking forward to helping rejuvenate agriculture in Afghanistan.
“I believe it’s going to be a very good thing for the Afghan people,” said Spc. Martin Rustvold of Audubon. “We’ll bring a lot of knowledge to them and help them out.”
Rustvold grew up in Audubon and has worked in pork production since he was 14. He is a contract grower for the Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic and he also helps relatives in their hog operations. The four-year guardsman will primarily provide security for the team , but says he also will help teach Afghans how to farm, produce and irrigate their crops properly, and care for their livestock.
1st Lt. Scott Rottinghaus of Waterloo has been a guard member for eight-and-a-half years and will be working in pest management in Afghanistan.
“We’re trying to improve the Afghan agri-business sector so they can provide for themselves and not have to grow opium poppies or rely on the Taliban or other enemies to feed themselves,” he said. “I think it’s great experience and I’m looking forward to it.”
Rottinghaus farms near Waterloo with his father and uncles. Together, they raise corn, soybeans and hogs. He said they raise around 3,000 early wean and finish pigs a year.
The Iowa Pork Producers Association, along with other commodity groups and ag-related companies, helped sponsor the family picnic, which was attended by more than 250 ADT members, guardsmen and their families at a northwest Des Moines park. IPPA shared information about pork production and had a banner specially designed for the occasion. The banner will accompany the team and be displayed throughout the unit’s year-long tour in Afghanistan. Upon the team’s return, the banner will go into the Iowa National Guard museum at Camp Dodge.
The National Guard started the ADT program in Afghanistan in 2007. The 734th team , the first such unit from Iowa, will be deployed in the Kunar Province and return to Iowa sometime next summer.