Rob Furlong is an Afghanistan veteran, he held the record for the longest kill in history, is a decorated Canadian sniper and is now embroiled in a different kind of battle -- fighting to keep his job as an Edmonton police officer.
Furlong, who in 2002 was a corporal and sniper with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, entered the annals of military history when he was credited for making the longest kill ever recorded, taking out a Taliban fighter at a distance of 2,430 m.
But with that glory nearly a decade behind him, Furlong finds himself in a fight to save his job in the Edmonton Police Service, in a battle that is now moving into the realm of the Alberta Court of Appeals.
Furlong left the army shortly after his historic tour in Afghanistan in 2002, at which point he joined the EPS but was fired last year for urinating on a fellow police officer and other misconduct, according to the service.
But Alberta's Law Enforcement Review Board ordered him reinstated, saying the penalty was too harsh and that Furlong had completed an alcohol rehabilitation program.
The Edmonton Police Service then sought leave to challenge the board's ruling in the Alberta Court of Appeal.
In a judgment released Monday, a judge agreed to hear the appeal, but says it should be dealt with quickly, because Furlong continues to be suspended without pay.
Furlong made history when, during the early stages of the war in Afghanistan and as a member of a dedicated sniper team, he took out a Taliban fighter moving along a mountainside from nearly 2.5 km away.
Furlong's sniping record stood until 2009 when a British soldier broke that record with a 2,475 m shot, also in Afghanistan.
-With files from CP
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