The promotion test Dec. 7, 2008, proves more frustrating than Fisher had expected. He failed in this try but won his promotion to private first class- the rank he had when he joined the Army- before leaving Iraq.
Sgt. Butthman, Fisher's squad leader, was well aware of his pre-deployment issues. "Every once in a while, somebody trips up," he said. "And I firmly believe that if you can help that guy pick himself up, dust himself off... I'd say eight times out of 10 that person's going to turn around and do well... Fisher's one of those cases."