General in hot water over rifle discharge

COURT MARTIAL

DAVID PUGLIESE Canada’s top special forces soldier has been charged after accidentally firing his rifle as he prepared to visit the front lines in northern Iraq.

Maj.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, a special forces combat veteran and head of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, will face a court martial for a “negligent discharge” from his firearm last year, the Canadian military said.

Rouleau immediately reported the Dec. 21 incident to Gen. Jon Vance, chief of the defence staff, and was put under a lengthy investigation.

The special forces commander was not available for interview Wednesday, but issued a statement to Postmedia.

“While preparing to go to a forward trench position as I was arranging my equipment, I negligently discharged one bullet into a safe area while loading my assault rifle,” he explained.

“As a soldier and as a special operations assaulter, the only acceptable standard of care with a weapon is errorfree.”

While most negligent discharges are dealt with through a summary trial process, because of Rouleau’s senior rank the charge has to be sent to a court martial. He has been charged under Section 129 of the National Defence Act of neglect to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

No date has yet been set for his court martial.

Rouleau recently sent a message to the 2,000 members of his command explaining the incident.

“As a qualified special operations assaulter — and as a soldier — I am expected to safely handle weapons,” he said.

“I made a mistake, I reported the mistake and I own my mistake 100 per cent. Accountability is the bedrock of our discipline as a military special forces organization.”

“A s the commanding general, I am every bit as accountable as the youngest private in the force,” he added. He also noted he would accept full responsibility at the court martial.

“Accountability underpins our actions as soldiers and especially as leaders,” he said.

The Canadian Forces laid 213 charges related to negligent discharges in 2013-14 and 107 in 2015-16.

Rouleau said he regrets the mistake because he worries it will divert attention from the excellent work being done by members of his command.

The general has made multiple trips to northern Iraq, where Canadian special forces are training Kurdish troops in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The Liberal government has expanded the special forces’ numbers to about 200.

Rouleau is a former commanding officer of the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2. He joined the counterterrorism force in 1994, eventually commanding tacticallevel assault forces and larger groups of special forces. In 2006-07 he headed Canada’s special operations task force in Afghanistan.