Special forces commander charged after accidentially firing weapon

Commander of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command Brig.-Gen Michael Rouleau speaks during a technical briefing in Ottawa, Monday, Jan. 19, 2015. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -- Canada's top special forces soldier has become the latest senior officer to be charged and face a court martial after accidentally firing his weapon.

The charge against Maj.-Gen. Michael Rouleau, commander of Canadian Special Forces Operations, stems from an incident in northern Iraq last December.

In a statement released by the military, Rouleau said he was loading his rifle while preparing to visit a frontline position when the weapon fired a single round.

The bullet did not hit anyone, but Rouleau said "as a soldier and as a special operations assaulter, the only acceptable standard of care with a weapon is error-free."

Rouleau said he immediately reported the incident to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance. After a lengthy investigation, he was charged with one count under the National Defence Act. As a general, such charges automatically result in a court martial.

A date has not been set for the court martial.

Rouleau isn't the first senior officer to be court-martialled after accidentally firing his weapon. Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard was ordered to pay a $3,500 fine after his rifle fired two bullets at Kandahar Airfield while he was commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan in 2010.

Another officer, Lt.-Col. Gilles Fortin, was also fined after accidentally firing a round from his pistol in the Kabul International Airport in 2012. Fortin was forced to pay $1,500.

In a letter to Canada's approximately 2,000 special forces troops, Rouleau said he takes ownership for his mistake. He said he regretted that the mistake would "bring unwanted public attention because it distracts from the great work you do."

Up to 200 Canadian special forces troops have been deployed to Iraq where they are helping Kurdish peshmerga forces fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. The commandos have been active in other parts of the world in recent years, including Belize and Niger.

Rouleau is a longtime special forces soldier. He joined the elite Joint Task Force 2 in 1994, eventually taking command of the counter-terrorism unit. Rouleau took command of all Canadian special forces in February 2014.