Sioux City AUSA Returns from Year in Afghanistan

A federal prosecutor who spent a year in Afghanistan as the Justice Attaché and a Special Deputy United States Marshal returned to his duties today as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in Sioux City, Iowa.

AUSA Forde Fairchild, was detailed from the Northern District of Iowa to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, then deployed forward as the Justice Attaché for Afghanistan.  Fairchild is the second prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa to serve in Afghanistan since the beginning of Operation Resolute Support, a 2015 U.S. led NATO mission, which began after transitioning from the International Security Assistance Force, which was created in accordance with the Bonn Conference in December 2001 shortly after the fall of the Taliban.  Major General Patrick Reinert, U.S. Army Reserve, also a federal prosecutor from the Northern District of Iowa, served, in uniform from May of 2013, through October of 2014, as the commander of the Rule of Law Field Force and Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435.

United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan, Jr. stated, “The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa is very proud of Forde.”  Deegan added, “Forde made tremendous sacrifices in supporting law enforcement efforts in a dangerous and troubled part of the world.  His dedication to justice is clear from his work in Afghanistan and his outstanding work as an AUSA prosecuting some of the most dangerous and violent criminals in Iowa.”

The Office of the Justice Attaché at the United States Embassy in Kabul is the United States Attorney General's representative in Afghanistan. It coordinates all U.S. civilian law enforcement efforts in Afghanistan with DOJ components in the United States, and aids in the investigation of crimes being considered for extraterritorial prosecution in the United States. It also serves as a close partner of the U.S. interagency community including the U.S. Armed Forces, Afghanistan and U.S. Departments of State, and is part of the U.S. Embassy’s Country Team and its Small Group Leadership team. The Office of Justice Attaché’s efforts are designed to aid the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in its efforts to build its capacity to aggressively investigate and prosecute terrorism, narcotics, corruption, and other major criminal offenses in a transparent, just, and timely manner consistent with its laws and consistent with international standards of justice.  

Fairchild's work as the leader of the Office of the Justice Attache regularly took him outside the relative safety of the International Zone.  Careful security preparations were necessary for each of these trips, but by getting out into the field, Fairchild forged strong partnerships with Afghan law enforcement professionals, including the Attorney General of Afghanistan. These strong partnerships were critical in assisting the Afghans in their counter-insurgency law enforcement efforts.  Fairchild’s efforts in this regard included working closely with the Afghan Chief Justice, Sayed Yousuf Halim. Fairchild built close ties with the U.S.'s international partners including the United Nations, NATO, and the governments of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, among others.