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Topic: Accidental discharges in the military (Read 3082 times)
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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What I find the most disturbing is this mandate to make a point which may, or not, be related to the actual charge. Manslaughter is pretty steep... specially after so much time has past.
Grieving father lashes out
TROY FLEECE FOR THE TORONTO STAR
Mar 13, 2007 04:30 AM
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–A grieving father is slamming Canadian military police officers who probed his soldier son's death in Afghanistan, saying the family was kept in the dark while the investigation dragged on for months.
"I don't like any family being treated like we've been treated ... . They certainly have a lot to learn in dealing with the public and grieving families," an emotional Ben Walsh said last night.
The retired Mountie had harsh words for the shabby treatment served up by military investigators on the same day that a manslaughter charge was laid against a soldier in connection with the death last August of his son, Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh.
Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser, a member of Walsh's regiment based at CFB Shilo in Manitoba, was also charged with one count of negligent performance of duty.
Walsh died while on a patrol west of Kandahar. Last week, another Canadian soldier died in his tent after being shot in an apparent accidental discharge of a rifle. That shooting is still being investigated.
Last night, Walsh and his wife Margie called Fraser to express their sympathy and concern for the suffering that soldier was facing, too.
"My wife and I, we know what pain we went through. There's nothing now that is going to bring back our son," he said.
"It was just a routine chat. I told him he certainly should get good legal counsel and I hoped to meet him one day and just to hang in there.
"You cannot go on hating people. It's not right. We can only be there and I hope one day we will meet Robbie."
Fraser's mother called the Walsh family later to express her appreciation for the gesture.
Jeff Walsh, a 33-year-old father of three, was just six days into his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when he was killed. From the outset, military investigators made it clear that enemy action wasn't suspected but were tight-lipped about the exact circumstances.
But yesterday, they revealed that Walsh was sitting beside Fraser in the back seat of a G-wagon when a rifle discharged.
"A shot was fired and Master Cpl. Walsh was hit," said Lieut.-Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, spokesperson for the Canadian Forces legal services.
Walsh had nothing good to say about the Canadian Forces' National Investigation Service, the special branch of the military police that looks into sensitive incidents and was responsible for yesterday's charges.
"They're in a domain of their own and I think they express the attitude that they're untouchable," he said in telephone interview yesterday from his Regina home.
"I will not let this rest ... . Like I told them, `I'm not done with you yet.' I do hope they learn from this. That's all I want – that they treat families in a fair, fair way."
The veteran police investigator said he was at a loss to explain how an investigation into the shooting in the back of an army vehicle could take seven months to wrap up.
As the investigation dragged on, Walsh said he wrote the Provost Marshal – the military's top cop – as well as Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, seeking answers.
It was only after his wife got on the phone crying in frustration that a military prosecutor – not the NIS – provided a few responses to questions posed by the family.
"I told them I've done murders, rapes and major crimes and sat down with families and opened the files up. They don't believe in that," said Walsh, who did praise the support offered by staff at CFB Shilo.
Walsh says he also spoke yesterday to the family of Cpl. Kevin Megeney, a 25-year-old reservist, shot and killed in an apparent accidental shooting in his tent last week.
The National Investigation Service is probing that shooting, too, and Walsh said he hopes the Megeney family fares better.
"My main concern is to not see the Megeney family have this dragged on for seven or eight months," he said.
Babinsky defended the length of investigation, calling it a "complex" probe.
"These are very serious charges. The National Investigation Service took the time it needed to ensure that the investigation was thorough, was complete," Babinsky said.
"When you end up charging someone under these accusations, you want to make sure there's no second guessing."
Because the manslaughter charge against Fraser was laid under the Criminal Code, he could face the same penalties as a civilian – a minimum term of four years and maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.
The case now goes to Fraser's commanding officer, who together with legal advisers determines if the charges will proceed, said Babinsky.
From there it gets referred through the chain of command to the director of military prosecutions, in essence the Canadian Forces' "Crown attorney," for review if there's enough evidence for a "reasonable" prospect of conviction.
If evidence warrants, a formal charge paper is submitted to the court martial administrator who will convene a court martial, likely to be held at CFB Shilo.
It's up to Fraser's commanding officer to decide his status until the charges have been decided. A military lawyer will be appointed to represent Fraser.
The second charge of negligent performance of duty, laid under the National Defence Act, brings possible penalties of a fine up to dishonourable discharge from the Canadian Forces.
The death and the charges have again put the spotlight on weapons handling by troops in Afghanistan, which is dictated by the rules of engagement.
In the camp, the soldiers are expected to carry their weapons but with the magazines off and bullets removed from the chamber.
But "outside the wire," soldiers are primed for action, with magazines attached and a "bullet up the spout," meaning a round is in the chamber and ready to fire.
That enables a soldier to respond quickly if trouble breaks out but it also raises the potential for accidents.
"The potential of getting in and out of the vehicle with all that bloody kit on and things catching on the vehicle – it can happen," said retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Stew Jackson
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Soldier's widow angry over charges against friend
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 | 2:44 PM ET
CBC News
The widow of a Canadian soldier, who died when a weapon discharged during a routine patrol in Afghanistan last year, is upset that her husband's friend and fellow comrade has been charged in his death.
"I've been irate at the fact that they've even considered manslaughter as one of the charges," Julie Mason told CBC News on Tuesday.
Mason's husband, Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, died in Kandahar on Aug. 9.
It has been reported that he was seated beside the driver of a G-wagon when another soldier's gun discharged from inside the jeep, killing Walsh with a single bullet.
On Monday, the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service charged Walsh's friend and comrade Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser, based in Shilo with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry regiment, with one count of manslaughter and one count of negligent performance of duty.
Mason said she doesn't agree with the charges.
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"I hope we can change this," she said.
"It's painful enough when a soldier loses a brother," she said. "It's even harder when you lose a friend and it's your weapon that went off."
Mason said she met with Fraser on Monday. She said she let him know "it's not his fault" and she told him she's there to help him as much as she can.
Earlier this month, another Canadian soldier died in a shooting in his tent on the base in Kandahar. The military has said little about Cpl. Kevin Megeney's death, other than that it did not involve enemy fire.
I am finding manslaughter a bit hard to swallow. I understand that punishment must be handed down but in my personal opinion this charge is to much.
Stew
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Dead soldier's family bemoans severity of charges against 'amigo'
Experts say rifle's safety could have been switched off accidentally
ALEX DOBROTA
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA — The safety on the rifle that killed Master Corporal Jeffrey Walsh could have been flicked off accidentally when the gun rubbed against a piece of equipment, military experts said yesterday.
Those comments came as Mr. Walsh's relatives decried the charges of manslaughter and negligence brought against MCpl. Robbie Fraser as exceedingly harsh. In a tearful phone call Monday, Mr. Walsh's wife, Julie Mason, consoled Mr. Fraser.
The two men were sitting side by side in the backseat of a G-wagon on a bumpy Afghanistan road last August, when MCpl. Fraser's C-7 rifle discharged, killing his comrade and close friend.
The rifle's safety switch had to have been off, in violation of Canadian Forces standard operating procedures. But a retired general said MCpl. Fraser could have inadvertently activated the roughly two-centimetre-long switch in the cramped space of the vehicle.
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"There are things that can knock it off for you," retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie said. "You've got your personal kit, you've got straps, you've got Velcro, you're carrying equipment."
Soldiers are issued a tactical vest, with multiple chest and side pockets to hold such gear as bullet clips, fragmentation and smoke grenades, and a bayonet.
Mr. MacKenzie said a piece of equipment like a radio antenna could have slipped into the trigger guard, causing the weapon to discharge. "That's not hypothetical, that's practically possible," he said.
Military regulations require soldiers to load their weapons upon exiting the base in Kandahar. But they must keep the safety on while riding inside a vehicle, unless they are in the midst of a battle, said Captain Ken Allan, a Defence Department spokesman.
A soldier can activate the lever with his thumb, pressing it forward in an arc-of-circle rotation, which sets the weapon in shot-by-shot mode.
While he didn't exclude the theory of a piece of equipment activating the trigger, Scott Taylor, editor of the military magazine Esprit de Corps, said MCpl. Fraser could have inadvertently discharged his gun fiddling with it or gripping the trigger during a jolt on the road. Soldiers usually keep their rifles between their knees when inside a vehicle, he said.
Last week, a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan was killed by a shotgun blast inside a tent on the Kandahar base. Officials ruled out enemy fire.
Accidental weapon discharges killed at least a dozen U.S. soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, according to globalsecurity.org. Dozens of others died from unspecified non-hostile gunshot wounds.
MCpl. Fraser faces life in prison if convicted of manslaughter in MCpl. Walsh's death, and two years of detention if convicted of negligence.
The two men and a third soldier serving with them in Afghanistan knew each other so well that their comrades had nicknamed them the "three amigos," said Ms. Mason.
"When I heard manslaughter, I literally fell apart for Rob," she said.
Ms. Mason said she first met MCpl. Fraser about a month ago, when a close acquaintance told her the bullet that killed her husband came from MCpl. Fraser's rifle. The two became friends, united in their common grief.
"I just wanted to tell him that I know that it's not his fault," Ms. Mason said.
MCpl. Walsh's father, Ben, characterized the charges as "very harsh."
In 2000, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Atkinson was fined $5,000 for negligence after he accidentally set off the turret-mounted machine gun on a tank by bumping into it with his helmet while visiting troops in Kosovo.
In 1993 in Somalia, a Canadian soldier cleaning his rifle accidentally discharged the gun, killing one of his comrades. A military court sentenced MCpl. A. D. Smith to four months imprisonment for criminal negligence.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Asia Times Online...
South Asia
Mar 15, 2007
Unsung heroes
By David Simmons
HUA HIN, Thailand - It is the nature of war to bring out the very best, as well as the very worst, in human beings. And so in these days of violence, just as there is no shortage of horror stories emanating from Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, Congo, Lebanon, there is no shortage of heroes, as well.
But heroes are not always found in the obvious places - on the battlefield, in the hospitals, in the chapels, mosques, temples, synagogues and funeral homes. Sometimes they show up in ordinary homes in places like Regina, Saskatchewan.
Last summer, Master Corporal Jeffrey Walsh, a 33-year-old father of three young children, was six days into his second tour of duty in Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces. Walsh and another master corporal, his good friend Robbie Fraser, were bouncing down a highway in the back of an armored vehicle near Kandahar when a shot rang out.
That shot robbed those three little kids of their dad, a young woman of her husband, and retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Ben Walsh of his son.
But the Taliban, or warlords, or al-Qaeda, or highway bandits were never blamed for the fatal shooting. Instead, Master Corporal Fraser was charged this week after a seven-month investigation with manslaughter and negligent performance of duty. If convicted, Fraser could be sentenced to life in prison.
The Canadian military is being customarily tight-lipped about the incident, but it appears that Jeffrey Walsh was killed by an accidental discharge of a fellow soldier's C-7 rifle.
Those of us who have wended our way through life managing to avoid violent conflict can only imagine, very imperfectly, the effect events such as this have on loved ones left behind. What would we do if we were Ben Walsh and his wife, who not only lost their son in faraway Afghanistan but, seven months later, heard that a Canadian soldier had been charged in the death?
Well, we know what Ben Walsh did. He picked up the phone and called Robbie Fraser. And he told the young corporal he understood what he was going through. "I told him he certainly should get good legal counsel and I hoped to meet him one day, and just to hang in there," Walsh told the Toronto Star.
And that's not all. According to Canada's Sun Media chain, Jeffrey Walsh's young widow, too, found that dignity and decency are, for some, stronger forces than grief and blame. "I've just let Rob know that I'm here for him," said Julie Mason, 29. "He's going through enough."
If the definition of a hero is someone who sets standards we can only hope to aim for, let alone reach, perhaps it makes sense for those of us who see no glory in war to look elsewhere. Perhaps in an era - and what era has been different from this one? - when so-called leaders start wars out of hatred, revenge, power lust, greed and sheer stupidity, all the basest elements of the human psyche, it is no surprise that we find the highest standards being set, and carried, by a grieving ex-cop and the mother of three fatherless kids.
The Walsh-Fraser affair comes at a difficult time for Canada, which unlike its warlike neighbor to the south is unused to seeing its soldiers come home in coffins. Some opinion polls have found more than half the Canadian populace opposed to their country's military involvement in Afghanistan, even though it is under Ottawa's obligations as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and not in direct support of the unpopular "war on terror" as defined by George W Bush. Yet that broader debate seems out of place, even unseemly, in the context of the death of Corporal Walsh and its fallout. Clearly, he and Robbie Fraser believed they were serving their country.
But it seems clear that the vast legacy of death, suffering, economic loss, political instability and environmental devastation of the many wars since the (second) "war to end all wars" of 1939-45 have taught us next to nothing. The real lessons are learned in spite of, not because of, war.
From this perspective, we all could do a lot worse than to learn from one simple, straightforward observation uttered in a modest home in Regina, Saskatchewan, by a retired Mountie the great movers and shakers of our world have never heard of.
"You cannot go on hating people. It's not right."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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March 14, 2007
No comment on soldier charged in shooting
By JOHN COTTER
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Canada's defence minister and its top general weren't saying much Wednesday about the case of a soldier accused of manslaughter in the shooting of a comrade.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service charged Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser on Monday under the National Defence Act. Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh was fatally shot during a routine patrol outside Kandahar last Aug. 9.
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor was tight-lipped about the case in his first brush with the media since Fraser was charged.
"It is an unfortunate thing when these things happen, but there really isn't much I can say now that he has been given formal charges," O'Connor said as Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, looked on.
"It is in the criminal court system."
Hillier also declined to answer questions about the case.
Fraser, based in Shilo, Man., with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, also faces one count of negligent performance of duty.
National Defence officials have said there are still several other steps to be followed before determining if Fraser should stand trial in the death of Walsh, who was from Regina.
Walsh's father, Ben, has been frustrated by the lack of information about his son's death.
Walsh told The Canadian Press earlier that he was told his son was seated beside the driver of a G-wagon when another soldier's gun discharged from inside the vehicle, hitting his son with one fatal shot.
The case will now be referred to Fraser's commanding officer, who will consult lawyers before deciding whether he should face trial.
The file will then be sent to the commander in charge of the army in Western Canada, who will later forward it to the director of military prosecutions.
O'Connor defended the process used by military investigators.
"If there is evidence of a crime they have to follow every single proper procedure because our courts are very demanding," he said. "It does take time."
Las week, another Canadian soldier was killed by an apparent accidental discharge, this one inside his tent on the base in Kandahar.
The dead soldier, Cpl. Kevin Megeney, was a 25-year-old reservist from Stellarton, N.S.
The Canadian military considers the accidental discharge of a weapon an inexcusable error for infantrymen.
"We have an investigation going on now and I have no idea and I have no idea what the result will be," O'Connor said.
"It may take some time before they come to a conclusion. It is not a thing that you hurry."
A full military funeral is to be held for Megeney in Stellarton on Friday.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Tim McCully
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in 1982, i was a young obnoxious Pte. being trained the Regimental way at the Battle school in Petawawa. During Pro Pat 3, our last ex before grad, we marched all night in darkness and silence to position ourselvesfor a first light attack on the bunker. We remained silent until 300 meters from the objective, somehow my safety on the C2 that i was carying, was knocked off without my knowledge. inadvertently i negligently fired a round. This obviously alerted the enemy force to our position. The attack was carried out in accordance with the trainiung schedule regardless. After the attack, our course officer ordered the man responsible for the misfire to report to him. No one knew who it was, but me, i have always been TOO honest and i immediately stepped up. For this honesty, the course was gathered to witness a mock execution. I was ordered to place my weapon down and lay the C2 bra over it, then i was ordered by the course officer to go down on my knees and place my hands behind my head. He then exclaimed (verbatum) " Pte. McCully you have just killed 53 of your own soldier, stupid, stupid stupid, someone hand me a rifle" he positioned the rifle behind my head on a 90 degree angle, me with no ear plugs, and he fired a shot. He then said " lay down McCully your dead" i fell forward to my elbows thinking ok i understand i F**d up. My elbows were not good enough he said" your dead lay down", with these words he placed his foot on the back of my shoulders and forced me down. Oh it did not stop here, "{Mcpl Appleton, detail 2 men to bury this thing". A shell scrape was dug and i was dragged by my feet on my face, and dumped into the hole, i was covered with dirt completly, except for a breathing hole, were the dirt kept falling into my mouth as the rest of the course members walked around to see the grave. A figure 11 was used as a marker and upon it was written, here lies Pte. McCully, killed 53 of his own men, may he rot in hell. Right now 24 years later, as i am typing this i am shaking like a leaf. I was left in the ground for an hour or so before they dug me up. For the rest of my time in the Battalion i had to constantly hear the Crap about how they pissed on my grave and spit Etc. I believe there were certain individuals who would have gladly done so, but i do not beleive the PISSING incedent occured but how could i be sure. Never the less, this branded me as a screw up and prevented me from excelling as a soldier. I can remember one of the 2 detailed to bury me, apoligized to me as his task was being carried out. i was mad and told him just do your F**n job. I can also remember hearing someone come by to see the grave and did not beleive i was in there. For me, i figure what does not kill me only makes me stronger, you can bet that i never again had a negligent misfire. However, i have been scarred by this incedent and the Course officer who is responsible for this he knows who he is, so do the members of my course. Any one out there remember this?
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1RCR (82-88) B coy 6pl, (84-85) UNFICYP- BBC coy Tpt, C coy 9pl, E coy Mortars, (88-90) CFB Halifax Base Chief's Staff, CFB Trenton Refinisher Tech.(90-92). UNFICYP,CPSM
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Holy f'n crappppp.....
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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R. Ball
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