INQUEST INTO LOCAL SOLDIER DEATH:
Inquest told Army rules not followed
THE death of Private Jason Challis could have been prevented if the Army’s safety procedures were properly followed, an inquest has heard.
Pte Challis, 25, was shot in the head in a live fire exercise at Mt Bundey Training Area south of Darwin in May last year.
The first day of an inquest into his death yesterday heard the soldier from Geelong had no experience firing live ammunition in a staged “urban” setting.
Pte Challis was in a small group of soldiers and engineers approaching a plywood building in a mock village when he unknowingly took up a position in what should have been marked a “no-go area”.
Soldiers on the other side of the plywood hut shot at a “dummy” target, sending bullets through the hut wall, killing the soldier.
The inquest heard yesterday the team had not rehearsed the drill with blank ammunition, or performed a walk-through, despite Army rules.
Counsel assisting the coroner Kelvin Currie said the inquest would consider why the Army had not followed recommendations made by the Inspector General and the Australian Defence Force following the death of Lance Corporal Mason Edwards in 2009.
Mr Currie also said the inquest would examine if Pte Challis had enough training to safely take part in the complex live-fire drill and what changes had been made to ensure similar accidents were avoided.
Fiona McLeod SC, for the Army, said the Army community was saddened by the private’s death.
Coroner Greg Cavanagh — who has previously examined the preventable death of a soldier at Mt Bundey — said, “you have got to stop killing your own blokes”.
The inquest heard no blank ammunition was available for the teams to train with, that one soldier’s radio earpiece had stopped working and that moments before Pte Challis was shot, the drill was put on hold because the team was out of position.
Captain James Oliver said the decision to not run through the drill with blank ammunition before switching to live rounds must have been made at a “higher level”.
The inquest, expected to last three days, continues.