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Officials of the Department of National Defence Give a Briefing on a Casualty in Afghanistan
15h30 - November 24, 2005
PRINCIPAL(S): Lieutenant-General Marc Dumais, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff;
Colonel Steve Noonan
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NOTE: The following transcript is presented in the language(s) in which it occurred. There is no translation available. We are providing the transcript for your information.
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LGen. Marc Dumais: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I have the sad duty to inform you that one Canadian soldier was killed today and four others were injured in a vehicle accident. They were patrolling approximately 45 kilometres northeast of Kandahar riding in a light armoured vehicle, the type we call a LAV-3 when it rolled over. The accident happened near the village of Laghman at about 6 p.m. Afghan time, local time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
An American military helicopter flew the five soldiers to the American hospital at Kandahar Airfield. None of the soldiers who survived the accident has a life-threatening injury but three of them are seriously hurt.
The soldier who died is Private Braun Scott Woodfield, aged 24, of Victoria, British Columbia. The injured soldiers are: Sergeant Tony Nelson McIver, aged 31, of Fredericton, New Brunswick; Corporal James Edward McDonald, aged 32, of Pembroke, Ontario; Corporal Shane Dean Jones, aged 30, of White Rock, British Columbia; and Private Paul Schavo, aged 24, of London, Ontario.
All the next of kin have been notified. Our thoughts are with them and with all Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Private Woodfield and the four injured soldiers are all members of Golf Company in the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment, which is based in Gagetown, New Brunswick. They had been serving with Task Force Afghanistan, first providing force protection at Camp Julien in Kabul and then moving to Kandahar as part of the consolidation of Canadian troops there.
Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is part of our contribution to the international campaign against terrorism. We have been helping the Afghan people achieve peace and security that some of us may take for granted here in Canada. There are significant risks involved in these operations but Canadian Forces members are among the best trained and most experienced soldiers in the world. They are brave, well led, well equipped and fully prepared for the mission in Afghanistan.
On behalf of the Chief of the Defence Staff and myself, I would like to say in closing that we are all thinking about Private Woodfield’s family and the families of all the soldiers injured today in Afghanistan.
Mesdames et messieurs, j’ai le pénible devoir de vous informer qu’un soldat canadien a été tué aujourd’hui et que quatre autres ont été blessés dans un accident impliquant un de nos véhicules en Afghanistan. Ils étaient en train d’effectuer une patrouille à environ 45 kilomètres au nord-est de Kandahar au volant d’un véhicule blindé léger — appelé un VBL-3 — lorsque le véhicule en question a effectué un tonneau. L’accident est survenu près du village de Laghman à 18h00 heure locale en Afghanistan, soit 8h30 heure normale de l’Est.
Les cinq soldats ont été évacués à l’Hôpital américain de l’Aéroport de Kandahar abord d’un hélicoptère militaire américain. Aucun des soldats qui a survécu l’accident n’est en danger de mort mais trois d’entre eux sont sérieusement blessés.
Le militaire décédé est le soldat Braun Scott Woodfield, âgé de 24 ans, qui provient de Victoria en Colombie-Britannique. Les soldats blessés sont: le sergent Tony Nelson McIver, âgé de 31 ans, de Fredericton au New Brunswick; le caporal James Edward McDonald, âgé de 32 ans, de Pembroke en Ontario; le caporal Shane Dean Jones, âgé de 30 ans, de White Rock en Colombie-Britannique; et le soldat Paul Schavo, âgé de 24 ans, de London en Ontario.
Tous les proches parents ont été informés de l’accident.
Nous pensées les accompagnent comme elles accompagnent tous les soldats canadiens qui servent en Afghanistan.
Le soldat Woodfield et les quatre soldats blessés sont tous membres de la compagnie G, 2ième bataillon, the Royal Canadian Regiment basé à Gagetown au Nouveau-Brunswick. Servant au sein de la force opérationnelle en Afghanistan, ils ont tout d’abord fourni une force de protection au Camp Julien à Kabul. Par la suite ils ont été déployés à Kandahar en renfort des troupes canadiennes consolidées dans cette région.
La mission du Canada fait partie de notre contribution à la campagne internationale de lutte contre le terrorisme. Nous aidons le peuple afghan à accéder à la paix et à la sécurité, notions que plusieurs d’entre nous tiennent pour acquis au Canada.
Il y a bien sûr des risques évidents à s’engager dans de telles opérations mais les membres des Forces canadiennes sont parmi les mieux entraînés et les mieux expérimentés au monde. Ils sont courageux, bien dirigés, bien équipés et tout à fait prêt pour s’acquitter de la mission qui leur est confiée en Afghanistan.
Au nom du chef d’État-major de la Défense j’aimerais vous dire, pour terminer, que nous pensons tous à la famille du soldat Woodfield et aux familles des soldats qui ont été blessés aujourd’hui en Afghanistan. Merci.
Je serais maintenant prêt à répondre à vos questions et nous avons aussi le colonel Steve Noonan qui est sur la ligne de Kabul. I’m ready to take your questions now and we also have Colonel Steve Noonan who’s on the phone from Kabul.
Moderator: Il y a un microphone de chaque côté de la salle et nous alternerons entre les deux. S’il-vous-plaît vous identifier et votre agence. Veuillez vous limiter à une question principale et une question supplémentaire. We’ll now start with questions from the floor. There are microphones on each side of the room and we will alternate between the two. Please identify yourselves as well your company. Also please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. Thank you.
Question: Michael Danton, Globe and Mail. Could you please tell us the nature of the patrol they were on, more details about the vehicle — in other words specs on the vehicle — and any reason for the flip, for why the vehicle turned over.
LGen. Marc Dumais: They were doing a routine patrol on Highway 1 which is the main ring road in Afghanistan which connects Kandahar and Kabul. As I said, they were 45 kilometres northeast of Kandahar at the time of the accident. If you want more technical specifications regarding the LAV-3, we can provide those for you afterwards. We have a subject matter expert in the room. And with respect to the cause of the accident, I would only be speculating at this time. There is an investigation going on in theatre right now as would normally happen for this kind of accident and obviously we will be convening a Board of Inquiry which is also a normal occurrence for this kind of accident. And the facts will be brought out in those investigations.
Question: Can you characterize in greater detail the injuries sustained by the three soldiers who are seriously injured?
LGen. Marc Dumais: No, I will say that two of the soldiers have been flown to Baghram for follow on medical attention but I wouldn’t want to speculate as to the nature of their injuries. It’s too early to tell the extent. One I understand was a walking wounded.
Question: Thanks.
Question: Good afternoon. David Akin from CTV News. I’m going to follow up from Michael. I don’t know, maybe Colonel Noonan can answer these. I wanted to just check off three first off the bat. Whether at the time of the accident there were other vehicles with that vehicle at the time and were they at the beginning or the end of their patrol?
LGen. Marc Dumais: I can answer the second point. Those patrols normally are in multiple-vehicle configurations. I don’t have specifics as to the environmental conditions. Steve, if you can hear us, do you have any idea as to the weather conditions at the time of the accident?
Col. Steve Noonan: Sir, just first of all I would like to express my condolences to the family of Private Woodfield and obviously our thoughts are with them at this -- in their time of need and to also to reassure to the families of those soldiers that are injured that they are certainly our main effort right now and we will bring to bear a good number of resources that will ensure that they have got the best care possible here in theatre.
Just to elaborate a little bit on the patrol, perhaps, this is what we call a routine patrol. We have what we call presence patrols on Highway Number 1 to ensure that we can maintain some security of that particular stretch of road during our movement from Kabul to Kandahar. Being 45 kilometres northeast of Kandahar, moving in the direction northeast, they would have been at the beginning of their patrol. And I don’t have details on the met conditions at the time although given the time of the accident, it was certainly dark at the time.
Question: And just finally I assume no weapons were discharged in this particular incident, there wasn’t any combatants or anything in the area at the time.
LGen. Marc Dumais: No, it was a road accident, a single vehicle accident.
Question: (Inaudible) Radio-Canada, en français quelques précisions là sur ce qui s’est passé autant que nous le sachions. Et peut-être aussi quelques précisions sur l’état des pertes jusqu’à maintenant, l’imputation du Canada en Afghanistan.
LGen. Marc Dumais: Premièrement, je ne veux pas spéculer sur ce qui s’est produit en cet accident. C’est sûr qu’il y a une enquête qui est en cours présentement qui va être -- qui est déjà déclenché en théâtre et ça sera suivi d’une enquête -- commission d’enquête qui aura lieu -- qui va être initié à partir d’ici dans les prochains jours. Et donc par l’entremise de ces enquêtes on aura plus d’information sur les faits et comment s’est passé l’accident.
Sur l’impact en ce qui concerne l’opération, bien sûr toujours très, très difficile de perdre un soldat et d’avoir des soldats de blesser. Mais avec le leadership qu’on a présentement et le niveau d’entraînement de notre personnel, ils vont savoir comment faire face à cette difficulté et ils vont continuer à poursuivre leur mission.
Question: L’autre question c’était combien de soldats morts jusqu’à maintenant et combien de blesser en plus de cet incident-là mais plus les autres?
LGen. Marc Dumais: Bien depuis la mission à Kandahar j’aurais pas tous les chiffres là-dessus là. Il faudrait qu’on fournisse ça par après. J’aurais pas ces détails-là présentement.
Question: Emmanuelle Latraverse, Radio-Canada. Moi je vais revenir sur le sujet mais avez-vous quelques détails qui puissent expliquer qu’un accident impliquant un seul véhicule cause la mort de quelqu’un? C’est quand même surprenant, non? Avez-vous quelque détail que ce soit? Pouvez-vous nous dresser la scène là-dessus?
LGen. Marc Dumais: Non, aucunement. Comme j’ai indiqué dans mes commentaires d’ouverture, le véhicule en question a fait un tonneau et bien évidemment c’était un accident sérieux avec la perte d’un soldat et des blessures graves. Mais j’ai aucun autre détail là-dessus pour l’instant.
Question: Et est-ce que vous avez la certitude absolue que c’est purement un accident, donc il y a aucun lien que ce soit avec des combattants ennemis? Est-ce que vous savez s’il y en avait dans la région?
LGen. Marc Dumais: C’était strictement un accident routier.
Question: Stephanie Rubec, Sun Media. Maybe I can address this to Colonel Noonan seeing as you’re there. Can you give us an idea as to where everybody was sitting in the vehicle, particularly the person who passed away? I think there’s a hatch that you can sit out of. Is that why he might have more serious injuries that caused his passing?
Col. Steve Noonan: I think that’s a fair question, Stephanie. Routinely in a vehicle you have a crew commander and a gunner that are outside on top of the vehicle out of the hatch in the turret. In our patrolling we also have two air sentries that come out of hatches at the back end of the vehicle. And then you have your driver who actually his hatch is down when he’s driving. We don’t -- I don’t want to speculate on the exact positionings of the persons right now because what we’ve got is just firsthand witnesses of people that were obviously involved in the accident. And I would rather have the facts being viewed in the light of day rather than just after the accident of where the exact positioning of the people -- person that deceased was.
Question: Okay. Well, then a follow-up on that, Colonel. Can you explain how the reaction was after the accident happened? How did they react in the vehicle? Who got involved? How did that helicopter come from the Americans and what is the mood in camp right now?
Col. Steve Noonan: Yes, I can answer that one. As part of our operation that’s ongoing right now with the movement and consolidation of the Canadian presence from Kabul to Kandahar we have plugged into an existing system here that will through a communications system and a dedication of American assets that are on standby at any point in time during this whole operation which has been ongoing for about a month. So the people that were involved in the convoy had immediate access through a communications link to American medical evacuation helicopters.
The mood in the camp right now of course is first of all we’re just coming through the shock of obviously an incident that occurs that is grave in nature. There is no doubt in my mind that as a family element -- as you know, within the military we try and build team building and we take this very personally. We feel for the family of Private Woodfield and the families of those that are injured and we will do our utmost to take care of both the deceased and those that have survived in the best of our efforts.
Question: Yves Malôt de TVA. Je voudrais savoir est-ce qu’il y avait seulement cinq personnes abord du véhicule et puis est-ce que la victime était passager ou conducteur?
LGen. Marc Dumais: Steve, can you answer if there would have been more than five in the vehicle?
Col. Steve Noonan: There were not more than five in the vehicle.
Question: Et la victime était passager ou conducteur?
LGen. Marc Dumais: Non, membre de l’équipage du véhicule.
Question: Hannah Boudreau, Global National. Did this LAV-3 hit a rock? Was it -- did it go over an embankment? What was the cause of the accident? What exactly happened with the accident?
LGen. Marc Dumais: I appreciate that you would all like to have more information on what specifically caused the accident and so do we but we’ll have to wait until the investigation is complete to get all the facts to whether it was single or multiple factors and what the cause was. It’s too early to speculate on that right now.
Question: Maybe just some background on the LAV-3 then. Has it been in many accidents prior to this one?
LGen. Marc Dumais: Well, like every other vehicle that we use, whether navy, air or land, there are accidents from time to time. But I wouldn’t say there are many accidents. The kind of training that we do in the military is inherently risky by the very nature of the work that we do. And certainly that’s the case with operations as well. So there are accidents from time to time.
Moderator: We only have time for two more questions. Nous avons le temps pour deux dernières questions.
Question: Mark Blackburn from CBC Radio. Can you tell me what Private Woodfield did with the military, his role in this patrol? And can you tell me is the driver one of the injured and how much experience he had driving a LAV?
LGen. Marc Dumais: Yeah, I can’t provide any specifics on any of that, unfortunately. I don’t have the information as to what each individual was doing as a crew member on this LAV-3 in this particular mission. And we can provide background. We will in the coming hours provide background information on the individuals.
Question: David Akin, CTV, and it’s sort of along the same lines. Maybe, Colonel Noonan, I don’t mean to put you on the spot or anything but I’m just wondering if you knew how long Private Woodfield had served in Afghanistan or how long he’d served with the forces generally, perhaps. Any information about Private Woodfield?
Col. Steve Noonan: What I can tell you is that he’s been serving in Afghanistan since August so about four months. He’d done about two, two and a half months as part of the force protection element in Camp Julien and then as we moved into the second phase of movement from Kabul to Kandahar we had infantry elements operating out of four operating bases along Highway 1 and he was part of that presence patrolling that has been conducted over the last month or so.
Question: Colonel Noon, is there anything you can tell us about the road conditions of that particular patch of road they were on? And, just to be clear, did the vehicle that was in the accident strike any other vehicle at any time?
Col. Steve Noonan: I can’t actually. You know I just know the type of -- Highway 1 is one of the only paved roads in Afghanistan and as a rule it’s one of the better highways that we’ve got in country. I don’t have the conditions that were present at the actual time of the accident.
Question: And was there a collision or no collision?
LGen. Marc Dumais: We don’t have any information on that at all right now. We understand it was a single vehicle accident.
Question: Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes our news conference today. Merci. C’est la fin de notre séance.
LGen. Marc Dumais: Thank you. Merci beaucoup.
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