Charges against JTF-2

[Enfield]

Ok, I've been away for a while, but last December (of 99) I found this article in the National Post. I'll only quote parts of it..
"Nine members of the Canadian Forces elite counter-terrorist and special operations unit, Joint Task Force 2, have been convicted of negligently discharging their firearms..."

"In several cases, shots were accidentally fired on what was described as the Special Operations Assaulter Course - a range used by the commando teams to train for their specialized hostage rescue and anti-terrorist tasks. Most of the incidents, though, involved soldiers who simply believed that they had unloaded their weapons and for some reason pulled the trigger, firing a round."

That's from the "Crime and Punsihment" section of the National Post, Dec. 3, 1999. I can't believe "elite" soldiers would make such basic mistakes... The article also says an Airborne Regiment soldier was killed in 1993 when one of his comrades thought his rifle was unloaded...

Enfield

[recce_o]

The person who was killed in the Airborne Reg was the catalyst for this policy. whlie in Somalia someone was trying to clean their weapon while it was still loaded. It discharged and someone was killed.

As a result, any negligent discharge, even of blank rounds, will result in the soldier being charged. In the case of JTF, the instances of negligent discharges could have been very minor, but the CO had no choice but the issue a charge.

[TonyM]

ND's with blanks happen like this: you've finished an exhausting 3 day ex with section attackes, advance to contact, recce, OP's, raid, no sleep then final assault. Then you're told to clear weapons. Mag off, cycle bolt twice, aim in safe direction and pull trigger..BANG..OH SHIT. I've seen this happen a few times now (not to me yet) and the look on the guy's face is priceless. He has forgotton to check the chamber visualy-and the round was not extracted (maybe carbon buildup on bolt, BFA getting a little loose, etc)And they always get charged. The CF policy is that there is no such thing as a AD (Accidental Discharge) it's always your fault (Negligent Discharge) and it'll cost you $250 unless you can prove the weapon has misfunctioned. You got to be more careful with the US 5.56 blanks, they have some knurling on the case and "stick" more when the weapon gets dirty.