Meritorious Service Medal
- Awarded on: September 27, 2007
- Invested on: February 13, 2009
Rank: Lieutenant-Colonel
Major Lutes was deployed as the officer commanding Patrol Company, Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, Operation ARCHER, in Afghanistan, from July 2005 to February 2006. With only a conceptual operations framework, he skillfully trained and led his company through Canada’s first exposure to a sustained suicide explosive device campaign. His tact and diplomatic skills in a complex cultural environment were critical to successfully engaging and building lasting relationships with key Afghan and multinational partners.
