Lt. Col. Lance C. Turner was born in Santa Cruz, California and hails from Eugene, Oregon. Lt. Col. Turner earned his commission in the Infantry through Army ROTC after graduating from Grand Canyon University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a two-time inter-mural champion in Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee. His military education consists of the Infantry Officer’s Basic Course, the Military Intelligence Officer’s Advance Course, and the Command and General Staff College (CGSC).
Lt. Col. Turner’s initial assignment was at Fort Lewis, WA with 1st BDE, 25th ID where he served as a BN Assistant Operations Officer and a Rifle Platoon Leader in 1st BN, 5th IN REGT from July 2005 to May 2006. On 01 June 2006, the unit re-flagged to 1st Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment (Stryker) and re-stationed to Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany where he continued serving as a Platoon Leader, Squadron S1, and an Assistant Operations Officer from June 2006 to July 2009. Following the MI Advance Course, LTC Turner was stationed at Camp Casey, Republic of Korea as the Battalion Intelligence Officer for 1st BN, 72d AR REGT from December 2009 to December 2010. He then re-stationed to Grafenwoehr, Germany and served as the Brigade Assistant Intelligence Officer with the 172d Separate Infantry Brigade from February 2011 to January 2012.
While deployed, Lt. Col. Turner assumed command of the 504th MI Company in January 2012, redeploying the company to Grafenwoehr and deactivating the unit in June 2013. Returning to the states, he served as an Intel Observer Controller/Trainer in Charlie Group with the Mission Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from July 2013 to July 2014. Following graduation from CGSC, he served at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA as the Group Intelligence Officer with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) from July 2015 to July 2016, and then served as a Division Intelligence Planner with the 7th IN DIV from July 2016 to May 2017. For the next two years, he served as a BN and BDE Operations Officer within the 502d Expeditionary MI BN and 201st Expeditionary MI BDE from May 2017 to May 2019. From June 2019, he has been serving as a Joint Intelligence Current Operations Officer with the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Italy in Milan, Italy. LTC Turner has deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 03-04 in Mosul, Iraq from July to October 2005, OIF 07-08 in Sadr City and Baghdad, Iraq from August 2007 to October 2008, and Operation Enduring Freedom from July 2011 to June 2012 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Turner’s military decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (2nd Award), Meritorious Service Medal (2nd Award), the Army Commendation Medal (3rd Award), the Army Achievement Medal (3rd Award), the Iraqi and Afghanistan Campaign Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Korean Defense Service Medal. He has earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger Tab, and the Parachutist Badge.
Lt. Col. Turner is married to the former Kara Beth Carter. They have three children- Marley (16), Zayn (14), and Vada (3) who love keeping their parents employed through Uber services, ATM withdrawals, shrink advice, tea party date, and the list goes on and on.