Rich Appel answers questions about his mission in Africa PDF Print E-mail
Written by Margaret Richman   
Wednesday, 10 February 2010 16:40
Lieutenant Colonel Rich Appel, also known in this area as Mr. Appel, Chilton Middle School Principal, was called up for Active Duty Service in August 2009 to service a mission in Africa that is anticipated to last just over a year.  He lives in Chilton with his wife Michelle, son Jordan and daughter Stephanie.

Lieutenant Colonel Rich Appel has served for over 23 years in the United States Army Reserve.  A native of Eldora, Iowa he graduated from The University of Iowa in 1987 with a Bachelors of Science degree in education.  He received his commission as an Infantry officer in 1988 through the Officer Candidate School, Ft Benning GA, followed by assignments with the 1/410th Infantry Battalion, 205th Infantry Brigade, 6th Infantry Division, 3rd COSCOM (Des Moines, Iowa), 84th Training Division (Fond Du Lac, WI), 432nd Civil Affairs BN- Iraq Deployment (Green Bay, WI), and 418th Civil Affairs BN– AFRICA Deployment (Belton, MO) and currently has 125 individuals in his command..

His commands include Scout Platoon Leader, 1/410th Infantry Battalion, C Company of the 1/410th Infantry Battalion, B Detachment, 432nd Civil Affairs BN (Green Bay, WI), Rear Battalion Commander, 432nd Civil Affairs BN (Green Bay, WI) , 432nd Battalion Rear Commander Civil Affairs BN (Green Bay, WI) and 418th Civil Affairs BN (Belton, MO).
Staff assignments include Battalion S-4, Battalion Assistant S-3, Battalion XO.

The following interview is from email correspondence with LTC Appel.

Where are you located and please describe the area?
My Battalion headquarters is located on Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti.  Djibouti is a small country located between Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Yemen.  We have eight countries currently in our Area of Responsibility.  My teams are spread out all over the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Comoros and Seychelles Islands).  I have had the great opportunity to travel to each of these locations to visit my teams and conduct operations with them.  Some of the regions are very dry and desert like while others are very green and mountainous.

What specifically is your mission?
My teams and CJTF-HOA (Combined Joint Task Force –Horn of Africa) are here to build friendships, forge relationships, and create partnerships to enable African solutions to African challenges in all of the different areas of responsibility.  I work closely with the US Embassies at each of these countries as well, so I have learned a great deal with the diplomacy piece to this mission.

What has been accomplished thus far?
The primary effort and focus up to this point has been projects to repair schools, health clinics, water projects and training to build both their civilian and security forces capacity to respond to situations as they arise.  For instance, we provide malaria training to health care officials to help diminish the threat of this deadly disease that kills thousands each year.

What is ahead?
The teams will continue to work with both local civilians and host nation military units to help build their capabilities so that they can effectively deal with and respond to threats and issues as they arise.

How have the citizens responded to you?
The host nation civilians that we interact with have been very welcoming and friendly and truly appreciate any support we are able to bring to them.  They are extremely friendly and curious of us and inquisitive of what America is like and if we like their country.  They frequently offer us coffee or tea and want to sit and talk about life in general.  Their culture exists without the normal amenities that we are all so accustomed to in the USA.  The children play with simple items to entertain themselves such as tires, marbles, and plastic barrels.  There is typically one soccer ball for an entire town.

What has been your greatest challenge?
The traveling here is very difficult and treacherous as we find the majority of roads trail like with wash outs and boulders.  We travel everywhere with two extra tires in case of flats which happen frequently.  

The temperatures have been comfortable so far as we currently average between 85-95 degrees in Djibouti.  We know that by summertime we will exceed 130 degrees with high levels of humidity.  The weather is a challenge wherever we go as it varies from country to country.  

We have been operating in a fairly permissive environment to date, but we know that we always must remain alert for those who would like to do us harm as US Forces.  This knowledge keeps us focused every day.

Do you have a message to the citizens and students of Chilton?
Take a moment to count your blessing and take care of each other.  Know that the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen that I am serving with all are working hard to do all that we can to insure that those who want do harm to the USA and our friends are minimized so that they can’t influence or harm either.  I have found this tour of duty to be very challenging and rewarding as we deal with the incredible distances and conditions that we have to contend with as we work throughout Africa.  The incredible terrain is both beautiful to look at and challenging to move around and over.  

Being away from family and friends always is the most difficult aspect I’ve found from all of my tours in the military.  
I once again have seen first hand how blessed we are in the USA to have so many comforts that we all take for granted that others can only dream about.  The simple things of water, electricity, medicine, phones, schools and a trustworthy security force and government is what we are all accustomed to.  We are here to make a difference and truly believe we are.  
Thank you for your well wishes and support.
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