MJO
By Staff Sgt. Michael J. Oliver, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
[caption id="attachment_2599" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Col. Neil Mullaney, Col. Mike Farley, Maj. John Holmes, Command Sgt. Maj. Alexander Maloney, Chief Master Sgt. Victor Dry, Staff Sgt. Austin Larsen, Staff Sgt. Jane Rothstein, and Maj. Chris Cline of the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team with the Adjutant General of Kentucky, Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini attended the 47th Annual Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast Aug. 26 in Louisville, Ky. "]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (August 28, 2010)--Kentucky National Guardsmen of the Agribusiness Development Team were honored guests at the 47th Annual Kentucky State Fair Country Ham Breakfast at the Kentucky Exposition Center Aug. 26.
[caption id="attachment_2594" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Steve Meredith of the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet speaks to members of the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team at the 47th Annual Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast Aug. 26 at the State Fair in Louisville, Ky. "]
The event brought more than 1,600 people from around the Commonwealth including Commissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer, President of Kentucky Farm Bureau Mark Haney, Congressman Brett Guthrie, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Gov. Steve Beshear, and the Adjutant General of Kentucky, Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini.
McConnell spoke on the greatness of America and those who fight to protect it, specifically highlighting the Agribusiness Development Team’s mission in Afghanistan.
The ADT I deployed last summer to Bagram, Afghanistan assigned with the mission of assisting Afghan farmers in becoming agriculturally self-sufficient and helped develop their agricultural marketplace. The task force was composed of a mix of Army National Guard Soldiers and Air National Guardsmen with a variety of skills and backgrounds in agriculture matters. The unit completed more than 300 successful agriculture projects and traveled to four Afghan Provinces with no casualties.
Col. Mike Farley, Commander of the first Agribusiness Development Team attended the breakfast with three other ADT I members and several members of ADT III who are set to deploy next summer. Farley and his team returned from Afghanistan two months ago and are still trying to adjust being home.
[caption id="attachment_2600" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Members of the Kentucky National Guard Agribusiness Development Team with the Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini, Kentucky Department of Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, and Gov. Steve Beshear attended the 47th Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast 26 Aug. at State Fair in Louisville, Ky. "]
“Your mind never shuts down when you are over there. When you come home it does, but it still takes time,” said Farley. Even though ADT I is home and readjusting, they stay in contact with Kentucky’s second ADT still in Afghanistan.
“We still speak to ADT II every week via email and they continue to have questions about little things going on and how we [ADT I] reacted to it,” Farley said.
The ADT II will be replaced by a third Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team next summer and a fourth ADT is being discussed.
Click the below link to see Farley's interview with Fox 41's Lindsay Allen who deployed to Afghanistan for three weeks to embed with the ADT.
http://www.fox41.com/global/Category.asp?c=163829&clipId=5059907&topVideoCatNo=131920&autoStart=true