Interrogating Army Justice, A Soldier’s Dilemma
The recent case of our client, Captain Roger Hill, came up in an Op Ed piece in the Washington Times this morning. Three great Americans co-authored the piece, which takes aim at the current state of Army leadership on the battlefield. The story of CPT Hill’s dilemma is a poignant one. Army commanders, swayed by misguided Army JAG lawyers’ terrible advice, lost a great officer and leader when they chose to jettison CPT Hill from their ranks. Rather than give him the support he needed when his company was facing an insider threat, the Army chose to discipline CPT Hill and his men for seeking information from Taliban spies who were employed on his base to support his company. He was charged with a war crime. Violating the Geneva Convention by inflicting psychological pain on detainees (read: fear). But when CPT Hill called up the chain of command for assistance, he was ignored; left to make his own difficult decisions about preventing the release of the Taliban spies who would otherwise return to the battlefield and kill his soldiers. Inexplicably, the Army refused to release the report of the Article 32 investigation hearing, in which CPT Hill was represented by Neal Puckett, our senior partner. CPT Hill now awaits a decison by the Secretary of the Army as to his characterization of separation from the service. Our hope is that he will receive an honorable discharge.
