Maj. Jason Affolder, of Cranberry Twp., meets with the commander of an Afghan kandak (Battalion-sized unit of 700 to 1,000 soldiers) to mentor and advise him on establishing logistics operations in eastern Afghanistan in 2009.

Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan is one of the most godforsaken spots on the planet, never more so than in 2009, when Jason Affolder commanded an Army battalion that defended that stretch of barren, rocky ridges and deep valleys from al Qaeda infiltration.

Affolder, who grew up in Butler County, says it was an honor to tackle such a tough assignment.

Affolder, 44, was a 1992 graduate of Seneca Valley High School, where he was student council president and a member of the National Honor Society, track and cross-country teams and the junior ROTC. He went on to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating with an engineering degree in 1996.

After West Point, he went to Air Assault School at Fort Campbell, Ky., where soldiers learn how to drop from helicopters to attack enemy positions. He became a member of the 101st Airborne Division (“Screaming Eagles”) and a platoon leader from 1996 to 2000, responsible for resupplying the entire division.

The ensuing decade brought alternating stints of training and command, each assignment more involved and demanding than the previous ones.

Today, Affolder is a colonel working in the Pentagon, preparing to take command of a brigade next summer.

Read more about Affolder's story in Thursday's Butler Eagle.