Byram native realizes dream of becoming Army officer

BYRAM — When he was just a few years old, Byram native Frank Cutrone attended an Army football game with his parents Nick and Mary.
“A West Point military police officer warmly welcomed Frank and from that moment forward, he wanted to be an Army officer,” Nick Cutrone said.
Frank Cutrone recently graduated Fordham University in the Bronx with a bachelor’s degree in international political economy and a dual minor in foreign languages. The day before graduation, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army along with the other members of the Fordham Army ROTC battalion, at a ceremony held in the University church. Guest speakers at the event included Fordham President Father Joseph McShane, Fordham Army ROTC commander Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Linn, and Army Major General John Sullivan from the Pentagon.
At the ceremony, Frank’s parents Mary and Nick Cutrone along with his girlfriend Alessia Nestico had the honor to pin his “military boards” on his uniform. Longtime family friend and Byram resident Rick Proctor, a retired U.S. Marine, gave Cutrone his first formal salute. Many family and friends from New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey attended the commissioning to honor Lieutenant Cutrone. Among them was Sensei Scott Klinger from East West Karate Academy where Frank has trained for 19 years and is a 2nd degree black belt and former AAU state and national champion. Additionally, both of his grandmothers were present including Sandy Cutrone of Long Island and Patricia Cavaliere from Connecticut. This was especially important to Lieutenant Cutrone as both of his now deceased grandfathers were military veterans. Silvio Cavaliere served in the U.S. Navy during WWII on the USS Miami in the Pacific, and Frank Cutrone served in the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas in the late 1950’s.
Cutrone is a 2010 graduate of Hilltop Country Day School in Sparta and a 2014 graduate of Pope John XXIII high school. He is a parishioner at St. Kateri parish and a member of the St. Kateri Knights of Columbus along with being a youth member of Sparta UNICO. This summer he is completing an internship for Hamburg Sud, an international shipping firm in Morristown. He will then depart for basic officer leadership training at Fort Lee, Virginia with the Army’s transportation corps.
Lieutenant Cutrone would like to thank his parents Mary and Nick Cutrone for providing him with the foundation for future success. He also acknowledged his family, friends, teachers, coaches, karate instructors, military instructors, and spiritual leaders who have provided him with so much support and mentorship over many years.