Improved security in Iraq has cleared the way for major progress in civil reconstruction, according to a South Dakota National Guard officer from Hermosa who is helping Iraqi farmers.

Lt. Col. Harvey Fitzgerald, the agriculture business specialist with a 10-member provincial reconstruction team north of Baghdad, is working on several Iraqi agriculture projects that he said have made major progress since the level of violence began dropping last September.

Fitzgerald, who has an agri-business background, just finished three weeks of leave at home and left Wednesday to return to Iraq.

Fitzgerald said one project will help Iraq farmers in the Al-Taji Nahia area, 17 miles northwest of Baghdad, plant their first crop in four years. "They have two growing cycles each year. That's like eight crops that have gone by the wayside," he said. "They're really anxious to see something start there."

The project is providing cucumber, tomato, squash, eggplant and pepper seeds for about 900 Iraqi farmers.

The coalition reconstruction team is providing the seeds, and the Iraqi government is helping farmers pay for fertilizer. The farmers and farmers' associations must come up with the rest of the operating costs for chemicals, land, rent and power.

The project is also providing plastic for the farmers to make ground greenhouses to protect their vegetables from frost, Fitzgerald said.

"We've had excellent reception on this program," Fitzgerald said.

The reconstruction team is also helping Iraqis switch from socialized agriculture to a private-enterprise system. He said farmers are enthusiastic about the switch.

Fitzgerald serves as a senior adviser to the Iraqi provincial government in formulating ag policy and in guiding investment policy to encourage private-sector agriculture.

Fitzgerald is helping farmers develop several retail and wholesale markets in the Baghdad area. where the vegetables will be sold eventually.

The project also may help farmers build packing sheds where they can sort and grade their vegetables to help them get better market prices, Fitzgerald said.

Other projects Fitzgerald is working on include soil-testing kits, developed with the University of Baghdad's college of agriculture, and a livestock market he designed and hopes to launch soon.

Fitzgerald said another sign of progress is that the highly developed irrigation system between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is flowing better than it has for years.

Other reconstruction team members work in areas such as city planning, governance, health-care systems, public engineering and state-owned enterprises.

Fitzgerald said the region is seeing an economic resurgence, although he said finding sustained employment for Iraqis is still a challenge.

"By the same token, they're right at the beginning of an economic boom," he said.

Iraqis who had left the country are returning home in droves. Markets are resurgent with shops reopening to meet pent-up demand, he said.

The improved markets and the progress in the ag projects have been made possible by improved security, Fitzgerald said.

"The military is involved in more of these civil projects now," he said.

Fitzgerald arrived in August, and security began to improve markedly in September with local Iraqi groups pushing out al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgent groups and providing information about insurgent activities to coalition forces. "If things had remained as they were before September, it would have been very difficult to get much done," he said.

Fitzgerald said the security situation is subject to change, but he is optimistic.

The Iraqis desperately want prosperity, peace and the ability to live their lives, he said.

He said it was not possible for Americans to routinely walk the streets six months ago. "Now, that's not highly unusual for us," he said.

Fitzgerald said he has not been fired upon since he has been in Iraq. This is his first tour in the Iraq war.

Fitzgerald, 50, has been in the military for 31 years, spending almost four years in the Air Force before joining the National Guard.

His civilian experience includes heading the agriculture department at Western Dakota Technical Institute for 12 years, serving as marketing director for the former Hi-Qual Manufacturing firm, and working in banking. He was also the rodeo coach at WDTI.

He and his wife, Velva, operate a small ranch near Hermosa.

He got home on leave Christmas Eve in time to celebrate his daughter Jackie's 19th birthday, attend the marriage of his other daughter, Bethany, and watch his son, Harvey T., play in three basketball games and compete in two Little Britches rodeos. Fitzgerald, Harvey T. and Jackie competed in a team roping and two cattle-cutting events. "It's been a dream," Fitzgerald said before he headed back to Iraq.

He volunteered for the deployment and said he has no trepidation about going back to Iraq, where his tour is scheduled to end in August.

"I'm actually kind of anxious and excited to see how much progress has been taken place in the three weeks since I've been gone," Fitzgerald said. "I've got projects waiting for me to get back, so I'm excited to get those moving forward and strike while the iron's hot."

By the Numbers

Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, the South Dakota National Guard has mobilized more than 3,100 soldiers and 700 airmen.

Currently, more than 150 South Dakota Guard members are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com