Amir Mohammad Akhundzada has a big job ahead keeping Oruzgan secure against any Taliban resurgence but Australia has given him a good head start.
He's governor of the province in southern Afghanistan where the Australian Defence Force (ADF), federal police and aid agencies have spent eight years stabilising and building roads, schools, hospitals and more.
The ADF's role in the region effectively ends on December 31, with the pullout of 1000 troops and the handover of what's left of the main base at Tarin Kowt.
Most of the base has been packed up, with facilities either pulled down or earmarked for handing over to the local community.
About 300 Australian troops will stay in Afghanistan, mainly for training and mentoring of Afghan security forces in Kabul and Kandahar.
An ongoing role for Australia's special forces is still being worked out but is likely to comprise a company of the elite troops based in Kabul.
But as far as Oruzgan province goes - as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the troops there last weekend - the Australian flag will be lowered at Tarin Kowt for the last time at the end of this year.
Governor Akhundzada, the province's political leader since April 2012, is grateful for Australia's efforts that have cost the lives of 40 diggers over the past decade.
"They have sacrificed a lot here in this war and we look forward to a good future," he said through an interpreter.
"I'm sure when the Australian forces leave from here it is going to be a stable government."
Four things that have improved are security, education, construction and working with people.
"Eighty per cent we have improvement on those four things," he says.
"We are keeping the security ourselves. We are improving day by day not only here but out in the villages and suburban areas we have very good security."
Rudd believes Australia military and civilian personnel have made real and tangible improvements to the lives of Oruzgan's people.
Defence personnel have trained and mentored the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
Rudd says this year's fighting season is the first time in more than a decade the ANSF will be battling the insurgency almost entirely alone.
Education has improved, with 38 girls' schools there now - an unthinkable achievement a decade ago - and more than 200 schools in total.
Four in five pregnant women now receive pre-natal health care and midwives and nurses have been trained to provide further support.
More than 200km of roads and bridges have been built.
Strong personal links have been built as well, with Australian soldiers learning about ethnic and tribal culture and senior ADF members attending "shuras", or village meetings, to open communication channels.
Whether the Australian effort has ensured for the long-term that Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for terrorists is an open question.
The Afghan National Army's 4th Brigade in Oruzgan province - part of an estimated 340,000 national security force - now carry out their own operations.
However, an average 240 ANA troops are killed or wounded each month across the country.
Rudd says much more work lies ahead.
"It is time for the Afghan people to build on the progress they have achieved with the international community's help, and take control of their future."
Governor Akhundzada urges patience and perseverance.
"The war on terror is not going to be ending overnight - it is going to take a long time," he says.
"We look forward that it is going to be all right in the future.
"But basically the war is going to take longer and I guess we have to be patient."
AAP pjo/lk/km
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