Academy instructor receives Bronze Star

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Raymond Hoy
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  An Academy instructor received a bronze star in a ceremony Aug. 23 in Fairchild Hall here.

Lt. Col. Patrick Donley, an instructor with the Department of Military and Strategic Studies was awarded the medal following his deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Colonel Donley was assigned to the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

"Primarily I was an adviser to the minister," Colonel Donley said. "I helped with everything from strategic planning to writing speeches to organizing trips to liaising with (the International Security Assistance Force). However, on the ISAF side they often looked to me as the Afghan representative, because I was one of the only (military) people in a civilian Afghan ministry."

Colonel Donley's position within the ministry played a key role in many aspects of Afghan and coalition relations. Due to his relationship with the minister, he had a unique view of the needs and views of the Afghans. The uniqueness of his position allowed Colonel Donley to see another side of Afghanistan than what a typical Airman would see. He also saw a different Afghan people than what is portrayed by the media.

"I was one of the few people to actually see Afghanistan and the Afghan people," he said. "As a result, my optimism for the Afghan future was dramatically different from others. Afghans are some of the hardest working people I've ever seen.

"One of ISAF's concerns is corruption," he added. "I was fortunate to work for an incorruptible minister. His heart was for the Afghan people, and that came across in everything he did. So I learned a lot about leadership from him."

However, as a former security forces commander, it took a little while to get used to a position requiring him to wear civilian clothes and drive "outside the wire" in an unarmored vehicle without a weapon.

"When I first got there, I kept driving around the city thinking, 'That's a soft target. That needs to change. This needs to be addressed,'" he explained. "It took a while for me to adjust and accept that force protection wasn't necessarily my role."

He also realized his effectiveness and safety in both the Ministry and the rural areas where he frequently traveled were contingent on his ability to blend in with his Afghan colleagues and be accepted as one of them. In a sense, camouflage was his greatest force protection measure.

"That was a key to success in the idea behind the position," he explained. "Had the Afghan minister seen me as simply an agent for ISAF who was there to listen in and watch what they did, he never would have trusted me and allowed me into his circle of trust. But because of our relationship and my role as his subordinate on a day to day basis, he knew I was working for him. If I had been wearing a uniform and been a constant reminder of my position in the American military, I think my experience would have been different. I was truly thought of as a member of his staff, even representing the minister among other Afghans."

This gave Colonel Donley an inside look at Afghan life. He could identify things needing to be addressed that hadn't been conveyed properly prior to his arrival. One of those things was the way money was allocated for Afghanistan rural development.

The way money is budgeted fiscally in most countries doesn't correspond properly with the Afghan growing and construction seasons. Donor governments and aid agencies were providing money, but not seeing it spent in a timely fashion because it came at a time when the weather was prohibitive. In many cases, contributions had to be held until the next construction season which frustrated donors looking for quick results.

"It wasn't until I was able to see this and hear it firsthand from the Afghan people that I could fully explain it and try to get the funding problem fixed," Colonel Donley said.
Situations like this allowed Colonel Donley to realize how important his position was. And nearing the end of his deployment, Colonel Donley was asked by then ISAF Commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal for a favor.

"I was asked to extend another six months during my sixth month in country by the ISAF commander," he said. "And it wasn't until that point in my deployment that I felt I was actually fulfilling my role as an adviser. A new minister came in who didn't have the experience of the old minister, so I felt very comfortable in my advising capacity."

That still didn't erase the hardship of having to stay an additional six months, but he knew it was the right decision.

"It's difficult to find out on your sixth month that you will be staying another six months," Colonel Donley said. "However, I firmly believe that jobs like these are very important, and I honestly believe they require a full year in country to be able to actually grasp the scope of what that job entails."

And being an Academy instructor gives Colonel Donley the opportunity to pass his unique experience on to cadets.

"As a Military and Strategic Studies instructor, we discuss challenges like this all the time," he said. "This deployment lets me give the cadets another view of Afghan relations and challenges to coalition and counterinsurgency warfare. It doesn't always require a weapon to get things done in war."