Commander says there was no failure of policy or procedures or education at Cerberus
The commanding officer of a Victorian naval base has told a commission of inquiry into the death of a sailor who overdosed there had been no failure of policy or procedure.
Captain David Garnock said he called for up to 26 sailors to be discharged for drug abuse at HMAS Cerberus while he was in charge of the base between January 2006 and January 2008.
Leading Seaman Julian Limozin was found dead in an accommodation block at the base 70km south of Melbourne on September 15, 2007.
The 25-year-old had spent the night drinking alcohol and taking methadone tablets.
Appearing before the inquiry yesterday, Captain Garnock said most of the sailors he had recommended be expelled went on to be dismissed from the Defence Force.
He also outlined his concerns about alcohol abuse at HMAS Cerberus, saying he reinforced a standard zero-tolerance approach.
”My view is there was no failure of policy or procedures or education at Cerberus,” he said.
”Some sailors will be tempted to break the rules and … sometimes they’ll get away with it.
”Very rarely does it lead to something as horrible as a sailor’s death but it did on this occasion.”
Captain Garnock said Seaman Limozin had died in ”very unfortunate circumstances”.
He admitted that some rules at the base, particularly regarding the use of alcohol, needed changing.
Senior sailors at Cerberus are allowed to bring booze on to the base for their consumption. Junior and under-age sailors are not.
Captain Garnock conceded the rules permitted sailors to bring in carloads of alcohol if they wanted to.
Earlier yesterday, Capt Garnock said he ”threw the book” at drug offenders during his time in charge.
Every six months he ordered in police dog squads to randomly search the base. Once he ordered drug detection dogs to scamper around a parade ground full of the entire base’s company of 1500 sailors in order to sniff out contraband.
Another time, to reinforce a message not to drink and drive, he put a wrecked car in which somebody had died on the way out of the base, so that sailors would notice it.
Source: The Canberra Times