Hutchinson ? Going to work these days for Martin Miller means carpooling in an armored Humvee.

He’s also adjusting to life thousands of miles from his Kansas home – living in an 18-foot-by-10-foot room in a dusty city nearly 150 miles north of Baghdad.

Not that Miller minds. The Hutchinson resident has gotten used to the way of life.

It’s all part of his new duty to bring a war-torn Iraq into the 21st century.

“I’m part of something that is making a difference,” Miller said during a recent short visit to Kansas. “There’s a little bit of progress going on, and it looks like things are starting to work.”

For the past four months, Miller, public affairs manager for the Kansas Department of Transportation, has worked as public diplomacy officer as part of the State Department’s Provincial Reconstruction Teams.

PRTs are the civilian component of the U.S. surge strategy – designed to support and reconstruct Iraqi neighborhoods. Miller, stationed in Iraq’s fourth-largest city, Kirkuk, will hold the position for one year.

Miller and other civilians are pledged with the goal – much like their military counterparts – to directly engage the local populations, promote reconciliation and foster economic development.

A few of his efforts have included working with the Kurdistan Save the Children group and its current project to check the eyesight of grade-school children in Kirkuk and buy glasses for those who cannot afford them.

He has helped give English books to the local university and worked with Iraqis sent to the United States for training, where they learn everything from educational issues and environmental endeavors to judicial systems, voting and leadership.

He’s also working with Iraqi media, he said, noting that many of the papers slant stories to reflect the views of a political party, and papers there are normally weekly or monthly.

The government also is working on building an emergency response center in town, and he is working with the media in dealing with different types of emergencies.

His latest project, however, deals with getting some older Iraqi television videos archived.

All in all, he’s glad he decided to take on the challenges of a new job.

“It’s been a great experience so far,” he said. “It’s a slow process, but you do see good things happening.