Afghanistan Pakistan Hands: The first year
 By Staff Sgt. LuCelia Ball , ISAF Public Affairs Office
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 KABUL, Afghanistan (Sept. 14, 2010) — One year ago this month, Adm.  Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, established the  Afghanistan Pakistan Hands Program for long-term regional engagement of  the Afghan and Pakistani people. Now, nearly 300 military and  civilian personnel are deployed to Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan  to build partnerships with the local populace as part of the greater  counterinsurgency strategy employed by the International Security  Assistance Force. They are part of a program that allows them to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Afghan partners. U.S.  Marine Lt. Col. Diana Staneszewski, a communications officer, arrived  in Afghanistan four months ago for a one-year deployment to Camp Nathan  Smith, in Kandahar Province. She is part of the first cohort of  approximately 200 officers and senior NCOs that will eventually be  deployed throughout Afghanistan. She applied for the assignment after hearing the program described by the then-ISAF commander as  “one  that was to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people through  language and social interaction and to reassure them that America is  here to stay until the job is done.” “I am a people  person and I would get to interact with the people of Afghanistan,” said  Staneszewski, about her decision to apply. “Learning the language and  interacting with the population makes me a strategic and tactical game  changer.” After being accepted for the program, the  colonel went through a 14-week Pashto language familiarization course at  the Defense Language Services in Washington D.C.  The institute also trained other Afghan Hands in either Dari or Urdu, the region’s other dominant languages. Additional  training included the Counterinsurgency Training Centre’s COIN  Leadership course and 24 days of language immersion after arrival in  country. The colonel said that the language immersion training was the most beneficial when it comes to her day-to-day duties. “[Since  arriving], I mainly interact with the men, women, and children of  Kandahar City,” said Staneszewski. “I am also the mentor to the Director  of the Department of Women’s Affairs in Kandahar Province.” The colonel’s days consist of going out with patrols to meet with people, often travelling miles from her camp. She said that as a female, she has advantages over her male counterparts. “I  am successful because I can engage 100 percent of the population of  Afghanistan and my male counterparts can only interact with the male  population,” she said. “Inherently, this makes me more employable in  building relationships with all Afghans.” The Af-Pak  Hands Program is a multi-year assignment for the participants. After  their one-year deployment, the participants will return to their home  units, but their next deployment will see them located back to the same  location. “[Going back to the same location allows  me] to capitalize on the relationships that I have already have with the  Afghan people I have worked with,” said Staneszewski. Although her communications background doesn’t come into play much, her time in the military does. “What is more helpful is that I am a senior officer who possesses personality and confidence,” she said. Afghan Hands is a program vital to the success of the overall counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign.  It  is building long-lasting, positive partnerships with GIRoA, Afghan  entities, and civilians, and demonstrating the long-term commitment of  ISAF to build capacity and capability within Afghanistan and deny  support among the Afghan people to insurgents.  The program has the attention of top leadership and will be here for many years to come.