Tragic tale of neglect

OUR armed forces market themselves heavily as an attractive job choice for young Australians.

Promising lifestyle, adventure and career progression, the defence force often pitches itself to school leavers or young people looking for a way to see the world.

But for the family of Geelong soldier Jason Challis, these promises must ring hollow indeed.

Private Jason Challis died after he was shot in the head during a training exercise at the Mount Bundey training facility near Darwin in 2017.

Yesterday the Northern Territory Coroner labelled the live fire exercise in which the soldier was killed as a “shambles” and a systemic failure by the whole chain of command.

Furthermore, Coroner Greg Cavanagh chastised the army’s legal team for downplaying the “abundantly obvious” facts of the army’s negligence in the exercise and culpability in the Geelong man’s death.

When Private Challis’ parents saw their son sign up for the army, did they ever expect that their nation’s armed forces would fail them and their son in such a matter?

How let down must they have felt not only by the poor organisation of the exercise that led to their son’s death, but also by the way the armed service tried to weasel its way out of responsibility for the colossal mess.

Training exercises are conducted for a reason — our soldiers need to be fully prepared before they are placed in hostile situations in foreign lands.

But there can be no excuse for a soldier being seriously injured — much less killed — on home soil.

Private Challis wasn’t put through the mandatory walkthrough of the range, wasn’t given the benefit of a dry fire or a blank fire rehearsal, and was in a part of the range that should have been signposted as a no-go area.

It’s little wonder something went horribly wrong.

Perhaps it’s the trainers who need the training.