Veterans are slamming the federal government’s ­enlistment of the Queen to strip soldiers of their medals long before the Afghan war crimes report was released.

The Queen signed off on a change to Unit Citations Regulations on July 13 this year, allowing the Governor-General to strip a unit of its ­citation on the recommendation of the Defence Minister or the Chief of the Defence Force.

Former special forces 2nd Commando Regiment officer Heston Russell told Ben Fordham he’s determined to uncover the truth and wants the Australian public to support them.

“We’ve lost confidence in our government’s ability to support our veterans.

“What I thought was a knee-jerk reaction has actually been months and months of premeditated planning that’s now coming to fruition.

“The presumption of innocence has not been overridden in six days, it’s been overridden in more than six months worth of planning.”

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Image: Getty