 Taking
the broken, ineffective Afghan
fighting forces and turning them
into an all-volunteer, valuable army
was a big job, but the United States
responded by sending some of its
best recruiters into the country to
help.
When then-Master Sgt. Cutler arrived
in Afghanistan, there were only
three national army volunteer
centers open, and construction was
underway for others. There was no
program in place for Afghan
recruiters, so he and two other
soldiers were tasked with developing
the first Afghan National Army
Recruiting Command – and a training
center to go along with it – from
scratch.
Cutler arrived in the country in
March 2004 and went to work
straightaway. His team developed and
implemented a training program still
used at the Afghan National Army
Recruiting Academy. The team
finished their task in nine months;
the normal time for organizing such
a complex, multi-level course is 18
to 24 months. They trained the first
100 Afghan recruiters in 90 days,
and graduated 300 officers and
non-commissioned officers shortly
thereafter.
While the work was hard, Cutler said
he and the team were honored to be a
part of it: “We've played a small
part – at a historic moment – in
helping stabilize the country.”
On Oct. 25, 2004, Cutler received
the Bronze Star for his work. |
