He now serves as an adaptive reconditioning non-commissioned officer at the Warrior Transition Battalion, helping soldiers like him who are recovering from injuries or disease.
Peter Singer, an adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign team and author of "Wired for War, " described one encounter with a frustrated non-commissioned officer.
"Russia needs a professional non-commissioned officer corps to train specialists who can really put these arms to effective use, " Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst, told AP.