In July of 2012, Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance was a platoon leader in Southern Afghanistan.
During a patrol in enemy territory, Lorance ordered a marksman to engage two unarmed Taliban fighters on a motorcycle operating as scouts, which is a common enemy tactic for unarmed fighters on motorcycles with cell phones track coalition movement.
Lorance, who was operating in a combat zone, saw the scout patrol, determined them to be a threat to his platoon, and engaged the enemy. Aerial surveillance later backed up Lorance’s on-the-ground assessment.
In just over a year, First Lieutenant Lorance was tried and sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison for his actions. This is unjust and not how we need to treat our American Military operating in combat forced to make split second decisions