Wisconsin Guard unit safely back in US from Afghanistan

Wisconsin's 82nd Agribusiness Development Team (ADT) arrived safely back in the United States early Feb. 17.

The 13-member team flew into Indianapolis after a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. Along the way, the ADT saw its mission change, resulting in a majority of the original 58-member team returning to Wisconsin last September. But now, the entire team has returned.

"It's been a long year, but it's great to be home," said Master Sgt. John Dietzler, an ADT member from Green Bay, Wis. "I can't wait to get with the family."

Dietzler said he is looking forward to reuniting with his wife and two sons and eventually getting back to his job with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

He and the rest of the 82nd ADT returned to the U.S. after a year away from home. Now all that stands between them and their return to Wisconsin is several days of demobilization training at Camp Atterbury, Ind.

"I'm very excited," said Cottage Grove, Wis., resident Maj. Sarah Bammel shortly after de-boarding the plane in Indianapolis. "I'll be even more excited once I see my husband."

Sgt. Rodney Hillskotter, of Weyauwega, Wis., said he is looking forward to wearing civilian clothes and relaxing for awhile.

A combat medic and a civilian paramedic, Hillskotter described his time in Afghanistan as a chance to broaden his horizons.

"I don't think there's any deployment that could have been a better learning experience for me," he said. "I got to do more things within the medical field and outside of it."

Most members of the 82nd ADT expanded their experience and learned the value of flexibility and adaptability on a deployment rife with changes.

When the original Wisconsin National Guard 58 Soldiers and Airmen deployed last February, the unit's primary objective was to connect Afghan farmers with local government and build demonstration farms to facilitate training events. Then, a slew of mission changes altered those plans, and most of the once-semiautonomous unit was sent home, leaving only 13 Guardsmen to continue the work of building the agricultural infrastructure in Afghanistan's Kunar Province.

After the first group was sent home, the remaining 13 were rolled into the agricultural component of Kunar's provincial reconstruction team, shifting the unit's focus from the local level to the provincial level. Others were assigned to different missions altogether, but the unit remained focused and dedicated to its cause despite all the changes.