Kutscha was born on 24 April 1917 in Ratibor, present-day Racibórz in southern Poland, at the time in the Province of Silesia of the Kingdom of Prussia. He began his military career as an "Unteroffizier" within 5. "Staffel" of "Jagdgeschwader" 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). He claimed his first victory during the "Phoney War" by shooting down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Vickers Wellington bomber on 14 December 1939. The bombers from No. 99 Squadron were on a mission to attack the "Kriegsmarine" cruisers "Nürnberg" and "Leipzig" which were returning to port after they were hit by torpedoes fired from the Royal Navy submarine the day before. This was followed by a Lockheed Hudson on 24 February 1940. In March 1940, Kutscha was transferred to 5./"Zerstörergeschwader" 1. With this unit he took part in the campaign in the West. This unit was changed to 8./ZG 1 on 26 June 1940. With this unit he participated in Battle of Britain. The unit was finally transformed on 24 April 1941 to "Schnellkampfgeschwader" 210. With this unit Kutscha entered the war on the Eastern Front and received the German Cross in Gold () on 14 February 1942 and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 24 September 1942.