Lebanon resident to be next garrison commander at Fort Indiantown Gap

Lt. Col. Robert Cuthie’s two careers make him a leader of soldiers and school students.

As a lifelong learner and former teacher with 20 years of experience, the Lebanon resident re-entered the education arena as a technical education instructor in Annville-Cleona School District in 2025.

As a soldier in the Pennsylvania National Guard, Cuthie will become garrison commander at Fort Indiantown Gap near the end of August. He will replace commander Col. Kevin D. Potts, who is aging out of the military, at a special ceremony Aug. 29 at FTIG.

While his two careers may seem divergent, there are actually many similarities, he said.

“I think it all goes back to building relationships with the kids and getting to know them and them getting to know you a little bit,” Cuthie told LebTown. “I try to lead soldiers the same way.”

Cuthie said a leader’s positional power must be balanced with a commitment to one’s charges.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jessica Tenbroeck shakes hands with U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert Cuthie at her promotion ceremony at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Leanne Demboski) 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team

“I mean, of course, you have positional power where you can say, ‘Hey, I’m the commander and this is what you’ll do.’ But, you need people to do stuff because you’re the commander,” Cuthie added. “But at the same time, they know you’re invested, they know you’re there and you’re committed, and that makes them work for you. They want to work for you. And that’s how I try to work with the students and the soldiers. So that’s the crossover for me.”

Cuthie said he joined the National Guard while attending Penn College in Williamsport after graduating from high school in 1998. “I also was looking at the Guard at the time because I wanted to serve. I was an Eagle Scout, and my father had talked to me about serving in the military,” Cuthie said.

After tech school and while still a guardsman, Cuthie also worked a few years for a building contractor. His next career move was to obtain a teaching degree at Millersville University, which led to a full-time teaching job in graphic arts, woodworking, and product design at Eastern Lancaster County School District for about 20 years.

Meanwhile, he was simultaneously climbing the career ladder in the Pennsylvania National Guard, but one role started speaking to him more than the other.

“Yeah, it was really challenging,” Cuthie said about the decision to walk away from one profession. “I think I got to the point where the military offered me some things that the school didn’t, which was just the excitement of a different mission. I’m a leader in the military. I enjoy leadership. That, I think, was scratching an itch for me. It was something that I really wanted to do, was to be in more of a leadership capacity.”

The military had appeal on other levels, too.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Luis Garcia with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, right, shakes hands with Lt. Col. Robert Cuthie following his reenlistment at a ceremony at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Leanne Demboski) 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team

“I also felt that the military had a broader set of opportunities that I could follow,” Cuthie said. “For example, I served in Germany and worked for AFRICOM. And I was the branch chief for training exercises that took place in Africa. I traveled to Africa and I just learned so much about the world and what’s going on and never thought I would have those opportunities in the National Guard. So that really attracted me.”

Currently a G3, or positional staff officer, Cuthie’s biography includes key assignments with the 56th Stryker Brigade in Grafenwoehr, Germany (2024–25), where he led 50 instructors in training Ukrainian soldiers in small unit tactics and leadership.

“I was the lead of the mobile training team. And I had 50 soldiers that were basically instructors. So we went through the Army instructor course together, and then I would go out and observe them teaching,” Cuthie said. “We would evaluate and make sure that we’re all doing the best job we can, but once again, I was in an instructional role over there and we ended up piloting a course for Ukrainians to develop instructors. We taught Ukrainian soldiers how to be instructors so they can also teach others.”

Prior to that role, Cuthie served as the Joint and Combined Exercises Branch Chief for the U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany (2021–22), managing a portfolio of seven joint exercises to achieve the AFRICOM commander’s strategic objectives.

From 2017 to 2020, he was operations officer for the Mission Training Center at FTIG, where he coordinated battalions through division-level Mission Command training events. His operational deployments include Operation Southern Relief (2005) in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2008).

U.S. Army Col. Christopher Costello, commander of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, awards the Meritorious Service Medal to Lt. Col. Robert Cuthie at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Israel Fernandez) 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team

He’s never been far from lifelong learning, either, especially in the service. He has an extensive background in military education.

A 2025 graduate of the U.S. Army War College with a master of Strategic Studies, he also completed the Advanced Operations Course, Command and General Staff College, Maneuver Captains Career Course, Scout Leaders Course, and Armor Officer Basic Course. He was commissioned from Officer Candidate School in 2002 and graduated from the Primary Leadership Development and Basic Noncommissioned Officer courses.

In his civilian career, he holds bachelor of science and master’s degrees in Technology Education from Millersville University, as well as a supervisory degree for Career and Technical Education.

The drive to instruct children and help mold their lives has always been with Cuthie, and he got back into teaching when he was hired to work in the ACSD.

“The plan is to continue teaching at Annville-Cleona and to continue supporting the military,” he said. “This will be a new challenge for me and how I’m going to support this (base).”

Lt. Col. Rob Cuthie has re-entered the teaching arena as a technical instructor in the Annville-Cleona School District. (James Mentzer)

As expected, he’s learning about the job of garrison commander while Potts is still on board. Potts serves as teacher to student Cuthie, who is learning about the day-to-day duties of a position that Potts recently equated to being the mayor of a small town.

“I’ve been with them all week and we’ve been going around and I’ve been learning more about what garrison command is,” Cuthie said. “I’ve known previous garrison commanders and I always thought it was a neat position, so I am excited. I’ve been finding out all of the different aspects of his job and what he’s doing all the time.”

Married to Allison, the West Cornwall Township couple have four children: twin daughters Margaret and Nora, 19, daughter Olivia, 17, and son Dominic, 15.

“My wife is amazing. She has a household, takes care of business and she’s the reason why I could do all of these things I have done,” Cuthie said.

He spoke of the learning curve he’ll have when he walks into his new office on his first day as garrison commander, adding that he doesn’t plan to make any initial changes after changing positions at the military installation.

“I would say this week has been a good week to spend time with Col. Potts and see what he has accomplished and what his agenda was while he was working here in this position. Initially coming on board, my goal is to maintain the buildings, the community relations that he started,” Cuthie said.

U.S. Army Col. Christopher Costello, commander of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, awards the Meritorious Service Medal to Lt. Col. Robert Cuthie at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 14, 2025. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Israel Fernandez) 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team

An emphasis, however, will continue to build the military facility as one of the premier training destinations for personnel.

“Col. Potts has definitely continued that tradition. And it’s my goal to do that as well, make the Gap continue to be the premier training location for our soldiers, to continue to update the ranges and the training areas, to meet the needs of the soldiers, to prepare them for today’s conflicts, and to continue to have strong community relations, like a good community partner,” Cuthie said.

“The things that we do here at the Gap affect the people who live in Lebanon County and around the Gap, but many of those people also work here and we train are their sons and daughters, dads and mothers,” Cuthie said. “So we wanna make this place a place where they want to be and the community has involvement in.”

Lt. Col. Robert Cuthie delivers a Christmas greeting in 2024. (Video by Army National Guard Spc. Israel Fernandez)

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Lebanon resident to be next garrison commander at Fort Indiantown Gap

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