Soldier on firefighting duty got lost after relieving himself in forest

[cupper]

Dude! You only had to take a leak!  :facepalm:

In all seriousness though, there has to have been some serious failures in protocols for this guy to be missing for 6 hours.

Soldier on firefighting duty got lost after relieving himself in forest

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/soldier-on-firefighting-duty-got-lost-after-relieving-himself-in-forest-1.3151693

A soldier who became lost Monday while fighting fires in northern Saskatchewan is fine today, although his pride might have taken a hit, military officials say.

"I am happy to report, he is uninjured except for his pride, and many lessons, a number of lessons to be learned about this," Brig.-Gen. Wayne Eyre said.

The Canadian Army said the soldier, one of some 600 from the Prairies deployed in the forest fire zone, had walked into the forest to relieve himself in privacy and got lost.

When others noticed he was missing at around 2:20 p.m. CST, a massive search began, involving soldiers, the Wildfire Management Centre, the RCMP, Canadian Rangers and other agencies.

The search virtually shut down firefighting in the area yesterday afternoon.

Eyre acknowledges that there should have been a buddy system in place, and the soldier, described as experienced, should have stayed in one spot.

Around 8:30 p.m., he was found.

The Canadian Forces will be reviewing its protocols on the fire line, including using a buddy system, Eyre said.

More than 600 wildfires have been burning in Saskatchewan so far this year, resulting in more than 50 communities being evacuated. Some 13,000 people in the north have been forced from their homes.

 

[drbones]

Who the heck was his fire team partner? ... pun intended >

 

[RocketRichard]

@drbones: good one

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Dude! You only had to take a leak!  :facepalm:

In all seriousness though, there has to have been some serious failures in protocols for this guy to be missing for 6 hours.

Soldier on firefighting duty got lost after relieving himself in forest

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/soldier-on-firefighting-duty-got-lost-after-relieving-himself-in-forest-1.3151693

5 Point Contingency Plan Anyone!

 

[Colin Parkinson]

How the F**K do you get that lost going for a piss/poop? I bet he is likely the solider that is always in trouble anyways.

 

[George Wallace]

How the F**K do you get that lost going for a piss/poop? I bet he is likely the solider that is always in trouble anyways.

Lots of reasons.  Some may be the soldier.  Some may be the organization.  The soldier may be the shy type who can't shower with others in the gym/shack, as they are too self-conscious.  The soldier may have gone for a piss, and everyone else got on the truck and drove away not knowing/checking that he was not on the truck.  The possibilities are endless.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

His mates buggering off without checking I can see, in which case the unit lost him and he was sitting in the same spot waiting return. I used to work in the bush, we actually expected to get lost everyday, but knew enough to get re-oriented fairly quickly.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I guess you have never experienced being left behind by accident when you were rear party security on a patrol.  Buddy doesn't necessarily have to be a glue bag.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Stuff happens, at least they found the guy.  No harm, no foul!

 

[jollyjacktar]

Stuff happens, at least they found the guy.  No harm, no foul!

Exactly.  A little red in the face is the least of what could happen to him.  Glad he's safe too.

 

[RocketRichard]

Agreed, was on sentry duty  during a huge Fallex and was forgotten as well.

 

[CountDC]

Funny how some want to blame the guy only without considering the possibilities.

How about the person in charge of the group that didn't make sure all his men were present when they bugged out?  No head count or buddy check done?

Been left on sentry during an ex while the enemy approached our location.  Was told by higher to stay put until they directed otherwise so we did, then they totally forgot about us.  Wasn't until one of the judges queried why I was still on sentry at the gate that they radioed for us to rejoin our section in the trenches.

crap happens, people get missed.  That is why we have the head counts and buddy system.  you get missed by one, hopefully the other will pick you up.

 

[Haggis]

I was 2IC for a nighttime platoon sized fighting patrol during a brigade exercise many years ago.  At the end of my order of march was a three man security element. 

We went to ground during a long halt just before leaving the hide where, unknown to me, a three member Observer Controller Team (OCT) inserted themselves into my column.  When it came time to move, my head count was correct, as it was every time we sent up the count enroute to the objective.  At the ORV everyone went their merry ways and put in the raid.  When the assault support and security elements returned (with the OCTs) again, my head count was correct.

We collapsed the ORV and moved to our extraction point to meet the trucks.  Imagine my surprise and a bit of panic during our extraction, when I came up short three troops because the OCT, again unknown to me, had attached themselves to the OPFOR for a quicker ride back into camp.  We got on the radio only to find out that the CSM had discovered the security element back in the hide sleeping soundly exactly where I'd positioned them.

 

[daftandbarmy]

We did that to troops occasionally on operations.

They even made a (pretty awful) movie about one such incident:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/71-belfastset-tale-of-squaddie-left-behind-enemy-lines-during-troubles-hailed-best-film-of-year-30657768.html

100s of patrols daily by hundreds of troops around the Province, something's gotta give.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

I was 2IC for a nighttime platoon sized fighting patrol during a brigade exercise many years ago.  At the end of my order of march was a three man security element. 

We went to ground during a long halt just before leaving the hide where, unknown to me, a three member Observer Controller Team (OCT) inserted themselves into my column.  When it came time to move, my head count was correct, as it was every time we sent up the count enroute to the objective.  At the ORV everyone went their merry ways and put in the raid.  When the assault support and security elements returned (with the OCTs) again, my head count was correct.

We collapsed the ORV and moved to our extraction point to meet the trucks.  Imagine my surprise and a bit of panic during our extraction, when I came up short three troops because the OCT, again unknown to me, had attached themselves to the OPFOR for a quicker ride back into camp.  We got on the radio only to find out that the CSM had discovered the security element back in the hide sleeping soundly exactly where I'd positioned them.

Did you track down the i/c of the OCT and have a little talk with him??

 

[Retired AF Guy]

From the original article:

Eyre acknowledges that there should have been a buddy system in place, and the soldier, described as experienced, should have stayed in one spot.

 

[Haggis]

Did you track down the i/c of the OCT and have a little talk with him??

Yes, I most certainly did.  He claimed he was "testing me to see if I'd notice that my patrol had been infiltrated".  His instructions to his team were to "not say a word and see if anyone notices us".

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Yes, I most certainly did.  He claimed he was "testing me to see if I'd notice that my patrol had been infiltrated".  His instructions to his team were to "not say a word and see if anyone notices us".

Then at the end of exercise he should have identified himself and explained what had happened, instead of taking off and leaving three men stranded in the boonies. I would be royally peeved off for him pulling stunt like that.

 

[George Wallace]

Then at the end of exercise he should have identified himself and explained what had happened, instead of taking off and leaving three men stranded in the boonies. I would be royally peeved off for him pulling stunt like that.

Looks like one of those acts of fate that happened by coincidence.  Three man OCT team falling in when three men were missing.  Had the three men not been missing, or the OCT comprised of any number other than three, the numbers would have been noticed. 

 

[Blackadder1916]

. . . a three member Observer Controller Team (OCT) inserted themselves into my column.  When it came time to move, my head count was correct, as it was every time we sent up the count enroute to the objective.  . . .

He claimed he was "testing me to see if I'd notice that my patrol had been infiltrated".  His instructions to his team were to "not say a word and see if anyone notices us".

So he obviously was a dick and a liar since they did "say a word" every time that they sent up the count.  I was always pissed when "observers" injected themselves into play on exercise.  Obviously, Haggis' patrol should taken to task for not ensuring that the security element were awake before departing, but it's the OCT who should be shot and pissed on.  There is nothing wrong with "observers" accompanying a patrol but they shouldn't become part of it - including its head count.