43rd OSS colonel leads PRT Published Jan. 23, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Cassandra Locke 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Almost a year into the rotational provincial reconstruction team, Pope's Lt. Col. Robert Ricci, 43rd Operations Support Squadron, has had a magnificent impact on working relationships with key leaders in Afghanistan. He has helped the facilitation of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan governance throughout five districts of Laghman Province. The colonel is deployed as commander of a multi-service NATO International Security Assistance Force PRT in Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan, 50 miles east of Kabul. The team conducts its mission using information operations and development and reconstruction projects. "(Colonel Ricci) is in one of the toughest command billets in Afghanistan," Col. Michael Thornton, 43rd Operations Group Commander, said. "The experience of participating in a multi-service, inter-agency team has been simply phenomenal," said Colonel Ricci. "This is the venture of a lifetime in which I've experienced the terror of being attacked (including one of my soldiers dying from an IED) as well as the pure satisfaction of helping people in dire need." The PRT has achieved benchmarks which set Laghman on the path to an independent and secure province; 28,800 newspapers distributed, installation of the first four anti-IED billboards and a media-based anti-IED campaign which resulted in 75 percent of all IEDs turned in or discovered by locals. There are two events the colonel has participated in that will stick with him and define what his team has accomplished. First is the 'first-ever' U.S. PRT inter-agency strategy developed in June 2007. This strategy is detailed to the point of defining specified tasks to PRT components with regard to security, governance, reconstruction, and information operations. "This single accomplishment is essentially our legacy to all other PRTs," said Colonel Ricci. The second was the Subnational Counsel activities in August 2007 in which the product was another "first-ever" Provincial Development Plan. The PDP defines activities and projects in a prioritized manner and established a long-term vision for governance/reconstruction. During the past year, Colonel Ricci led more than 280 ground assault convoys with minimal loss of life or injury in the most IED intensive province in Afghanistan. He planned missions, prepared for battle drills and ordered mitigation measures such as road clearing packages, electronic warfare burns and surveillance along the routes they traveled. The PRT spearheaded a shura at Qal'eh Najil engaging more than 200 village elders from three major valleys known for anti-government support. The colonel said this presentation was key to winning the hearts and minds of local leaders and Afghan citizens. "There are too many rewarding experiences here ... everything ranging from putting shelters in place to promoting my Airmen/Soldiers with well deserved rank and medals," said the colonel. "I've been surrounded by heroes all year, so to pick one event or accomplishment as most rewarding is impossible."