[AMF]

The danger in making excuses for this guy, is that you can change the program, but you've not altered the proximate cause, which was operator error. You can have whatever sort of program you want, but unless you fix the problem, you're just addressing the symptom.

Even if they alter the program to be more "friendly" to novice gun operators, it still remains that you're GOING to have accidents (unfamiliar gun owners + guns = trouble) and if you don't address accidents sternly, you're not going to encourage people to pay attention to what the hell they're doing.

It was and still is I'm sure, a standard deal under most commands in Iraq that any AD is an automatic NJP (at the very least) for the operator and some semblence of punishment for the supervisor.

You can slice it, dice it, mix it up all you want. But the bottom line is the operator is responsible for when and where his weapon is discharged.