The second-in-command of 1 Platoon testified yesterday on the small arms training Cpl. Matthew Wilcox and other soldiers in the Canadian Forces would have received prior to deployment to Afghanistan in December 2006.
Warrant Officer Chris Saunders, a member of 36 Canadian Brigade Unit, was on leave in Canada when Cpl. Kevin Megeney, a 25-year-old from Stellarton, Pictou County, was shot in his tent and later died at Kandahar Airfield on March 6, 2007.
Megeney had been shot in the chest. He was playing a game called “quick draw” with his friend Wilcox when the shooting occurred.
At the court martial being held at the Victoria Park garrison in Sydney, Saunders testified that he was involved with 1 Platoon’s workup training at Camp Aldershot, CFB Gagetown, N.B., and CFB Wainwright, Alta., in the months leading up to the soldiers’ deployment.
“The only person you should point your weapon at is the enemy,” he said.
Charges
• Cpl. Matthew Wilcox, 23, who’s from Glace Bay, is a member of the 2nd Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders. He’s charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and negligent performance of duty in Cpl. Kevin Megeney’s death.
