Jeff Courter

Jeff Courter is the pastor of our rural church in upstate New York. Jeff has had an amazingly varied professional career spanning three branches of the military to the business world to (now) the ministry. Jeff was serving in the Illinois National Guard when he volunteered for a tour of duty in Afghanistan. This was at considerable personal sacrifice for a man approaching 50 years of age as he had a family including school-age children in suburban Chicago. Jeff's job in Afghanistan was as an "embedded" trainer of the Afghan Border Patrol and to do this his team was deployed in a remote forward operating base near the border with Pakistan.

Jeff kept a journal of his experiences and impressions during this deployment. One gets a good sense of the "texture" at the ground level of our military's efforts, including some vivid descriptions of the lack of resources that plagued his detachment, particularly unreliable vehicles. In addition to describing the harsh rigors and frustrations of living and operating at FOB Do China, where he went on patrol and came under enemy fire on several occasions, Jeff writes with great insight, empathy and compassion for situation of the Afghan people. While frustrated with the many shortcomings of the Afghan military he was working to train, he held out hope that progress could eventually occur in this country if (and it's a big "if") there is patience and perseverance on our part. He notes the marked differences in culture of Afghans from us, but he recognized that they want some of the basic aspects of life that we take for granted: schools, access to decent water, roads and jobs. Jeff concluded, quite correctly I believe, that, although defeating the Taliban militarily is an important objective, the lasting peace and stability of Afghanistan will come only when fundamental needs of the Afghan people are met. Thus, the emphasis of the NATO alliance on "winning the hearts and minds" of the Afghani's is a vital priority being addressed by the humanitarian aid and civic works that the military and western civilians are providing there. He says that the Afghan people will never tolerate an occupation by foreigners, but they will accept aid and support. I agree that without this element of westerners' involvement there is little hope for change, but I recall the experience of US aid in the 1950's and '60's detailed in Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book "Little America". Massive efforts to build infrastructure had no long lasting impact on that nation, partly due to ineptness and mistakes in the engineering, but perhaps more related to the endemic corruption infecting all levels of Afghani government. I think the present day efforts are worth the attempt, but am somewhat pessimistic about chances for success.

Jeff has great respect for the commitment of his fellow soldiers and for the involvement of our allies in this international effort -- he was praising of the Polish contingent with whom he interacted.

Jeff's insightfulness is shaped by his theology and Christian beliefs and this makes his journal much more interesting than just a recitation of his experiences. After leaving Afghanistan Jeff completed several other assignments for the National Guard and then entered seminary to become a pastor. His first pastorship is with our church and we are truly blessed that he's become a part of our church family.… (plus d'informations)