“I Want To Be A Soldier”: A Servant Leader In Special Forces And The Massachusetts State Police

Mike Cutone was born in May 1966, and grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts, with two sisters, one who sadly passed away too young from a heart issue. His parents were both immigrants from Italy, his father bearing the same last name as his village north of Naples and southeast of Rome. His parents immigrated for the opportunity offered in America after World War II. One uncle had been an Italian Army POW, confined in the United States during the war. His father was a construction supervisor, and his “Italian Catholic mom” was instrumental in his upbringing, instilling “lots of discipline.” Mike grew up in a large, extended family with a good work ethic, where hard work was expected and the family wasted nothing. As a boy, he remembers wanting to be a Soldier and serve the Nation. In high school he played football and competed in shot put on the track team. Before his senior year, at 17, he joined the Army, which required his parents to sign his enlistment papers under the Delayed Entry Program. His father supported his decision, but his mother “didn’t want me to join,” although she too signed and was later very proud of his accomplishments. Mike describes watching a VHS tape about Special Forces at the Recruiting Office, and he was enticed by the challenge. Since he had already committed to the Army, his senior year was very stress free, while his classmates were struggling to complete required tests and choose a college. He graduated high school in 1984, and reported to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, in June, noting the oppressive South Carolina heat during the summer. His Drill Sergeants, SFC Taylor and McBride, were role models, and Mike was selected as the Guidon Bearer. He remembers being yelled at constantly, and he enjoyed the discipline, PT, ranges, and field training. He did not like KP, but appreciated how hard the cooks worked. In 1983, when he enlisted, selecting Special Forces was still an option (now you have to be an NCO before you can select Special Forces), and the two specialties available to him were commo and medic. Mike picked medic and he was sent to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, for the Army Medic 91B course. He enjoyed AIT, but his sister Sandy died while he was in the 91B course and he went home on emergency leave. He recounts a story about the possibility of having to recycle because he missed a portion of the course when he was on emergency leave, but recycling would throw off his follow-on schools (airborne, and SF medic course). The AIT commander allowed Mike to test out of what he had missed, and he was able to keep to his projected timeline. He felt that the “Army gave me purpose.” At this point in his career, he knew he had a long road ahead, but “the Lord kept me humbled.” He reported to Airborne School and enjoyed it, describing taking his boots to a “boot black,” being sent to the “Gig Pit,” and making the mistake of volunteering for the Ranger Regiment (a mistake only because he already had a Special Forces contract). In Airborne School he met other Delayed Entry Special Forces Soldiers. After Airborne School, he reported to the Special Forces Medical Course back at Ft. Sam. Before the 300F1 (Special Forces Medic) course started, he took classes in anatomy and physiology at the local community college in preparation for the medic course. He admits that he was not a good student in high school, but he really buckled down for this course and did very well. He also met several senior NCOs who were going to Special Forces and they became his mentors, demanding excellence from him and teaching him how to “become a man.” Mike describes the leadership example SFC Butowski set for him by helping the lower enlisted clean latrines one evening before a VIP visit. His GT (General Technical) score of 106 was too low for admission into Special Forces (110 was the minimum), but an Army lawyer intervened on his behalf, claiming that it was the Army’s mistake and not his, and he was allowed to remain in training. Mike describes the various phases of training, including the live tissue lab and Robin Sage, the culmination of Special Forces qualification training. He states that Special Forces have “cracked the code” on training by making subjects teachable, repeatable, and executable. Mike claims “when you left that course, you were very confident in trauma management.” At this point, he was 19, and he excelled as a medic, graduating first in his class. Next, he completed a month of “on-the-job” training at Womac Army Medical Center, where he remembers having to stich a little girl’s eyelid. He was then assigned to ODA 013 in A Company, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces in Bad Tölz, Germany. Their wartime mission was to perform strategic reconnaissance and unconventional warfare after infiltrating Poland and reporting on the advance of Warsaw Pact forces. Training included winter warfare and the Norwegian Ski School, and Mike taught team members advanced trauma techniques. Having been stationed in Germany during the Cold War, he remembers his disbelief when the Berlin Wall came down, commenting “we beat the Soviets.” He left active duty in 1988 in order to pursue a college degree, and, returning to Massachusetts, served briefly with the 11th Group before transitioning to a National Guard Special Forces Group, the 19th. He was assigned to an ODA in A Company, 2nd Battalion. Attending college, he was able to deploy in summer supporting 1st SF Group training for 10 weeks in Thailand. While not deployed supporting 1st Group, Mike was earning a college degree at the University of Massachusetts in political science with a minor in history. In 1995, he deployed to Haiti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy with 19th Group. Stationed in Miragoâne, Haiti, they were assigned to enforce voting security in the towns of Miragoâne and Baradères, which were about 20 miles apart. In Haiti, Mike realized that “hope was taken away from the people.” Arriving in Miragoâne, Mike was trying to figure out how to create a force large enough to ensure election security. “Do what Army SF taught you,” his Captain recommended, and Mike set out to create a team from the local population. He first engaged with the locals and figured out their issues. One key issue was the main road through town was full of potholes. Next, he found a broken-down old bulldozer, ordered parts, found a mechanic to fix the dozer, resourced concrete, and began fixing the road. His efforts started small, but quickly grew, and soon the town was on his side, and he had plenty of volunteers. He remembers, “Concrete won their hearts.” For Special Forces, their greatest resource is the local population, a lesson that he later drew upon in Springfield, Massachusetts. Feeling unfulfilled in his civilian job, an Army friend, Ranger Varner, recommended he take the State Police Exam. Mike states, “Sometimes people see something in us we don’t see in ourselves.” Mike had his doubts when he showed up for the exam with 14,000 others statewide, but he was selected for the Massachusetts State Police and graduated from the Academy in 1999. Days away from graduation, Mike became known for “defending the honor of the Massachusetts State Police” by confronting a politician who made disparaging comments about the force in an assembly. On September 11, 2001, Mike had just finished the late shift on the Police force, and was conducting some training in a local Dojo when a friend asked, “Did you see the news?” In that moment, Mike knew “we’re at war,” and “life changed for all of us.” First, they began pulling 24-hour security at the Armory, but deployments soon followed. In 2005 to 2006, he deployed to Iraq, part of one of three 19th Group ODAs assigned to support C Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group in Nineva Province, Iraq. They were part of a BATT (Battalion Augmentation Training Team) designed to train Iraqi counter-insurgency forces. His team was sent to Avghani, where insurgents had recently blown up the local police department. At that time, Avghani was a hub for foreign fighters staging for operations in Tal Afar. 3rd ACR, who was also operating in the area, approached the ODA with plans for a three-day training session designed to return Iraqi police to the streets. The National Guard ODA, which was comprised of several police and state troopers, quickly took on the mission of training and legitimizing the Iraqi police force. ODA 944 developed and implemented a training program consisting of Check Point operations, identifying IEDs, and working with the local population. At the completion of training, the police took an oath of office upon graduation. The insurgents tried to limit the success of the Special Forces training through terror, but the newly trained Iraqi police were committed to wresting control of their hometown from the foreign terrorists. Eventually, the police force grew to over 200 members, and it became a model for other towns under insurgent control. In 2008 to 2009, Mike was assigned to operations in Miami and Washington, D.C. It was his first operational assignment off an ODA, but coordinating with the FBI and conducting staff work was a “great learning experience.” From 2013 to 2014, Mike served as a First Sergeant with Commando SOAG (Special Operations Advisor Group) at Camp Morehead in Afghanistan. At home, Mike served as a State Trooper from 1999 to 2020, at the Springfield Barracks, B3, the busiest barracks in the Commonwealth. The barracks was located was in a poor area of the town, consumed with drugs and gang violence, and Mike had a plan to stop it. First, he began conducting dismounted patrols through the town, something unheard of. On a daily basis, he entered local businesses, showing his determined presence. Eventually, the manager of a mini-mart spoke to Mike about how bad the gang problem was, to the tune of losing several thousand dollars in inventory each month to gang members who took what they wanted, flashed their weapons, and left without paying. The manager’s question to Mike was, “What are you going to do? It’s always been this way.” Mike realized he had to first address the apathy and community attitudes before combatting the crime. He began attending an “Elders’ meeting,” where several “Hispanic grandmas” expressed their concerns. Mike drew up an action plan based on his experience in Avghani and sought “community buy-in.” He notes, “It took a few years, but it transformed the north end.” The lesson he took from that was the need to engage the community and understand the problem from the community level. His efforts in Springfield developed into C-3 (Counter Criminal Continuum) Policing. Near the end of the interview, Mike discusses reconnecting with his faith. He had been raised Catholic and attended Sunday school, but in the Army, booze and women entered the picture. In 2004, called home by a Red Cross message for his cousin’s funeral, Mike openly wept through the Mass. At the end of the Mass, the Priest blessed him, and he returned to Kosovo, where he felt called to go to confession and get right with God. The Hound of Heaven was after him. When he returned to Massachusetts, he passed by the St. Thomas Rectory daily on patrol. Finally, he felt convicted to enter and go to confession. As he sat down with the Priest, he wondered what the “little purple scarf” was for. After an hour confessing “20 years of mortal sin,” the Priest thanked him for “a beautiful confession,” and Mike began the Act of Contrition. Mike states, “One Mass, one Priest, and one Confession made me the man God intended.” At the end of the interview, Mike reflects on his service to the nation and his state, noting, “It is a great gift to serve a cause greater than yourself,” and being a Servant Leader means “freely giving of ourselves.”