As an entomology student at the University of Delaware, John Greenplate, AG '77, was constantly on the run, cruising through mile after mile as a standout on the cross-country and track teams.

Greenplate, who has a successful career as a scientist with Monsanto Corp., is still logging miles at age 48, but until recently he was running daily in the dusty Afghanistan desert, carrying an M-16 and dodging land mines.

Three years ago, Greenplate joined the U.S. Army Reserve, enlisting alongside one of his three daughters and with the blessing of his wife, Susan. He says he long had an interest in the military, as his father had fought at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, his brother, Bill, AG '65, had served in Vietnam, and another brother, Al, was a member of the Delaware National Guard for 11 years.

Greenplate considered a career in the Navy in 1983 but declined a commission because of family considerations. Instead, he joined Monsanto, where he conducts research on protecting cotton from insect pests.

"I was technically too old to start a Reserve career," Greenplate wrote recently from Kandahar, where he was part of Task Force Panther with the 82nd Airborne, "but the Army needed entomologists, so they waived the age requirement."

Greenplate served a nine-month tour in Afghanistan and was rotated back to the United States in March.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, Greenplate says his stint in the service consisted of "one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer–kind of Boy Scouts on steroids."

That all changed after terrorists struck the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.

Greenplate, the executive officer of the 1863rd Medical Detachment out of Columbia, Mo., says his unit was activated in June 2002 and by August had arrived in the theatre of war.

After a week in Uzbekistan, the unit moved to southeastern Afghanistan, where it was stationed at the edge of the Afghan desert.

Greenplate was the officer in charge of a preventive medicine team. Five soldiers from the 1863rd were with him in Kandahar, and another four were with the unit's commander in Uzbekistan.

"My guys and I monitored water quality, testing water sources and product water from our water purification systems. We tested bulk water in storage containers, as well as bottled water shipments," Greenplate wrote. "In addition to water, we assessed basic sanitation conditions and made recommendations to commanders on how to fix deficiencies. We inspected all dining facilities, showers, latrines, etc.

"We also monitored and controlled insect disease vectors and rodents. It's quite a big job, and we were responsible for our base camp and other forward operating bases in this theatre. Our bottom line was to reduce disease and non-battle injuries so soldiers can do their jobs."

Greenplate said the base camp at Kandahar airfield was "fairly safe, although we did get a rocket or mortar attack from time to time."

He wrote, "The Al Queda are notorious for poor marksmanship and no one was hurt in our base camp after I arrived. We had some injured in patrols outside the wire and, in nearby Kandahar city, there was an assassination attempt on the Afghan president."

"The landscape was riddled with mines," Greenplate said, adding that did not slow his interest in running. "I went on morning runs around our compound and could see the mines marked in nearby fields. We had to carry our weapons everywhere, even while we were exercising, going to the shower, latrine, chapel on Sunday, chow. So, I ran with my M-16 or a Beretta M-9 pistol if I could trade with someone."

Greenplate's training as an entomologist was put to good use. "The biggest entomological mission was associated with sand fly control," he said. "Sand flies carry a protozoan disease that is really nasty (Leishmaniasis). Many Afghanis have the disfiguring disease. Malaria, although endemic, is not a real threat at the moment there because there have been few breeding sites due to years of drought. We did have problems, though, when soldiers went on forward missions into wetter areas.

"I've gotten to know what sand flies look like and have counted thousands," Greenplate said. "We monitored them three nights a week using 25 CDC light traps spread all over our base camp. We performed base camp spraying with ULV foggers from truck-mounted sprayers whenever fly counts warranted."

In addition to their military duties, the U.S. soldiers are carrying out humanitarian missions to villages surrounding Kandahar. Greenplate said that will be part of a larger medical mission to provide health care to the Afghan people.

"Our detachment conducted sanitation and hygiene assessments of villages and test water sources for any type of contamination," he said. "In addition, my agricultural expertise allowed me to make an ag resources assessment of each village. The info we collect allowed us to plan certain types of immediate remedial steps, but also will play a part in the larger peace-keeping effort that may follow."

Given the shaky nature of the peace in Afghanistan, Greenplate said the "missions involved full battle rattle (loaded weapons, bulletproof vests, Kevlar helmets) and security provided by heavily armed MPs in armored vehicles."

"I missed my family, friends and my civilian career and colleagues at Monsanto," Greenplate wrote. "I also really missed green plants and humidity. Other than that, I enjoyed myself, learning new things, getting some real unique leadership training."

He added that Monsanto "has been extremely supportive at every level, and I couldn't ask for a better employer."

While at the University of Delaware, Greenplate was co-captain of the 1976 cross-country team with Jim Bray, CHEP '78, who was also his teammate at Newark High School.

Greenplate still holds some of the top outdoor track times in UD history, all set during a productive 1977 season. He is number two all-time in the 3-mile run, with a time of 14:33; number three in the 10,000 meters, with a time of 30:42.5; and number eight in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, with a time of 9:25.3.

--Neil Thomas, AS '76