No good choices

Afghanistan | With enemy spies in custody, Capt. Roger Hill faced an impossible situation; the choice he made is costing him his career | Lynn Vincent

Photo by Neal Puckett

A West Point graduate with a degree in environmental engineering, Capt. Roger Hill was by all accounts an up-and-coming young officer. He had completed the Army's punishing Airborne and Ranger schools, earned three Army Commendation medals and, during a 12-month combat tour in Iraq, received a Bronze Star for meritorious service. His fitness reports reflected a dedicated leader whose superiors wrote ringing recommendations for promotion.

The men who served under him also showed confidence in his leadership: The reenlistment rate in Dog Company, the high-action combat unit Hill led in Afghanistan, was the highest in the brigade.

But now Hill, 30, is back home in the States awaiting dismissal from the Army, possibly with an other-than-honorable discharge. His case illustrates what embedded journalist P.J. Tobia calls the terror war's "impossible mission"—and what can happen when the letter of military law clashes with a commander's duty to protect his men.