"There was no lesson plan! There was no field manual for the work I was about to do."
Army Major Glenn Battschinger had been trained as a warrior with the Army Rangers in the 82nd Airborne. But he was also a father who saw boys his son's age in Afghanistan, who had nothing.
"My calling was to serve. I didn't think I was too old at 48 to be recommissioned," Battschinger said.
So after 14 years out of the Army, Glenn took a year off with permission of his bosses at American Water in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, to build trust in a war zone.
"The ordinary Afghan citizen wants nothing more than what we have in our own homes. And that's security. They want to be able to trust the government." said Battschinger.
As a civil affairs officer, his group dug wells in Afghan villages that had no fresh water. They taught Afghan women to use a loom to weave rugs.
"This is a technical skill that can bring a family money," Battschinger explains.
He brought a five-year-old Muslim boy to North Jersey for life-saving surgery to correct birth defects. And Glenn says one of his proudest achievements was the band of brothers he turned into a Boy Scout troop.
"We started with 50 boys and soon it turned to 100 boys! And these kids are just like any boys anywhere in the world. They're eager! They're full of energy! They want to play!"
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The major had no idea how much his work had done until a U.S. surveillance drone crashed.
"Our villagers fired on the Pakistani Taliban! Drove then away! Secured the aircraft! Strapped every piece of it -- and there were thousands of pieces -- to their two donkeys and brought it down the mountain to their village!"
So the major, who's also a dad, and a Scoutmaster, built trust, where there was none.
"We helped the Afghans get off of first base! It is a tremendously personally fulfilling experience!"
