A better copy of the newspaper article

NNY educator brings renewable energy knowledge to Afghanistan

By SGT. MELISSA STEWART
TASK FORCE SPARTAN PUBLIC AFFAIRS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012

ARTICLE OPTIONS

James S. Juczak is an expert in renewable energy, saving money and making something amazing out of nothing.

Mr. Juczak spent more than 20 years teaching everything from foreign languages to shop classes and has been on the staff of Cornell University’s Cooperative Extension. For 90 days, he found new and inventive ways to help the people in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, by working side by side with soldiers in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Spartan.

At home in the north country, Mr. Juczak lives on his farm in a mortgage-free house that he, his wife and some of his friends built out of recycled objects. His home and surrounding structures on his property on Fuller Road, Adams Center, run on renewable energy, and the majority of the food used by the residents of the community is produced on the farm.

“We live at a place that we built. It’s called ‘Woodhenge,’” he said. “It’s the intentional community that we set up.”

Mr. Juczak spends his time spreading knowledge of an economically and environmentally friendly lifestyle with local students and fellow free-thinkers.

“I run an intentional community; I teach people how to build self-reliant systems around themselves, including energy systems. I write and I lecture,” he said.

And now, he helps the Army. While Task Force Spartan soldiers were preparing for their yearlong deployment to the Zharay and Maiwand districts in Kandahar Province, Capt. Kimberly Duenow, officer in charge of the Spartan agricultural team, began to look for ways to train her soldiers on as many different agricultural topics as possible. She found Mr. Juczak through a partnership with Cornell University and the task force.

“The captain showed up at my office one day and said, ‘I heard you know something about renewable energy,’” Mr. Juczak said. “I offered to do lessons for her team, and they started to show up for two- to four-hour lessons at the Cooperative Extension.”

“I did everything from food preservation to how to set up solar systems, wind systems, that kind of stuff,” Mr. Juczak said.

His enthusiasm and skill stood out to the soldiers. After going through the training with her team, Capt. Duenow realized that Mr. Juczak was an incredibly valuable asset to the task force’s agricultural mission. She and other officers discussed deployment with Mr. Juczak, and he expressed his willingness to join them.

“Jim was really enthusiastic and had expressed his interest in wanting to come out and help us more and deploy,” Capt. Duenow said.

Mr. Juczak arrived at Forward Operating Base Pasab with no idea of what to expect from a military base, the Army and Afghanistan. According to him, he was expecting the living conditions to be considerably more austere and the soldiers more impetuous than what he found.

“I don’t have any military experience, so moving into a tent with 10 enlisted men has been a riot,” he said. “It is nothing like I thought it would be; they are much shyer and much more polite than I thought they would be.”

While he was at FOB Pasab, he helped the agriculture team inform locals about types of renewable energy and has taught many how to build valuable and useful equipment out of next to nothing.

“Jim is great because he is so resourceful, and with our limited budget and funding, he has been a huge asset to us,” Capt. Duenow said. “He is a very resourceful, handy guy who has helped out with pretty much everything.”

Mr. Juczak worked with the Spartan agricultural team to teach at the Zharay District Center. He said classes were a fun and successful way to educate locals on energy efficiency and ingenuity. One of the projects that stood out the most was a fuel-efficient stove Mr. Juczak taught locals how to build.

He also has had a hand in Operation Stork, which is a task force initiative to help decrease infant mortality rates through education and the distribution of birthing kits that contain basic medical and household supplies to assist in safe home births.

Mr. Juczak did not just help assemble the birthing kits; he got his family involved with Operation Stork.

“Upon hearing about the birthing kits, his family decided that this year they wouldn’t exchange Christmas gifts. They decided that they would just find ways to bring in donations,” Capt. Duenow said.

Many times over the past three months, the civil affairs or agricultural teams took Mr. Juczak out into the Zharay district to get his opinions on the most effective way to clean out irrigation channels, clear trees out of roads and build energy-efficient items for local Afghans.

Although Mr. Juczak has been outside the base many times, he has never been afraid. He said he can tell his wife with confidence that he is being well protected by the soldiers he has worked with for the past 90 days.

Mr. Juczak also has helped soldiers interact with Afghan companies to get better deals on contracts. He said many times, an engineer or builder will present a contract that is written in superfluous technical jargon in the hopes of confusing customers and finagling more money out of the job.

“I have made my salary here getting projects canceled where the bids were 10 times what they should be for what they got,” Mr. Juczak said jokingly. “A lot of times an engineer will couch it in terms they hope no one understands, or they hope no one looks at it in detail.”

Mr. Juczak’s 90 days with the task force ended last week.

SPC. GEORGE BADILLO N U.S. ARMY

James S. Juczak teaches locals in the Zharay District Center, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, about renewable energy and using junk to make efficient household items.