Maj. Gen. Aziz Rahman, commander of the Afghan National Army Recruiting Command congratulated and challenged the group.

“You are the best selected officers of the ANA and you have to recruit the best soldiers for the ANA,” he said.

There are now 17,000 soldiers in the Afghan Army, representing every ethnicity and province. Currently, the recruiting rate will meet the Bonn II treaty goal of 70,000 soldiers four years earlier than the original date of 2011.

With this class, there are now 263 recruiters. They will be assigned to the 19 existing National Army Volunteer Centers across the nation. Eventually they will man 35 such centers, one in every province of Afghanistan, except for Kabul Province, which will have two.

With the addition of approximately 50 civilian positions, the goal of filling the Recruiting Command’s 327 slots is almost complete. The last few recruiters will be trained by the Afghan trainers on a one-on-one basis.

After the second graduating class, the average number of qualified military applicants increased from 695 every three weeks to 1,737 every three weeks. That rate is expected to climb once the new class receives their assignment orders.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig P. Weston, chief, Office of Military Cooperation – Afghanistan, challenged the new recruiters to deliver enough high-quality recruits every two

weeks to start a new kandak (battalion) of 850 soldiers at the Kabul Military Training Center.

“I am confident you will be able to satisfy this need because you attended and graduated from this course of instruction,” said Weston. “Only the best officers graduate from this academy.”

U.S. Army Master Sgt. Tracy L. Cutler and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Kirk Kobak are U.S. Army recruiters brought here to start the Afghan National Army Recruiting Command. The sergeants and their team of U.S. military personnel worked with the Afghans. In nine months they wrote the doctrine, strategy, policies and procedures, trained the original group of Afghan officers, and conducted three recruiting academy classes. The normal time for organizing a multi-level course of this magnitude is 18 to 24 months.

Cutler and Kobak received Bronze Star Medals, as well as an Afghan medal authorized by Afghan President Hamid Karzai for their accomplishments.

The program put in place by the team will be able to sustain a flow of 1,200 to 2,000 new soldiers into the army from across Afghanistan.

Weston and Cutler emphasized the importance of filling the ranks of the army with a cross section of Afghans.

“Your recruiting efforts will truly open the door to opportunity for the young men of Afghanistan, the opportunity to serve the many peoples of the new Afghanistan,” said Weston.

“You have gone far in creating an Army that truly represents and has the face of Afghanistan, both provincially and ethnically,” added Cutler.

The graduates were anxious to begin their new assignments.

“Factions wanted to destroy our army and our country,” said Col. Khalilullah from the Kapisa province, a 25-year veteran of the Afghanistan military. “That is why I became a recruiter, to build our army.”