The Governor in Council has made this section of our report necessary by entrusting us with a mandate that specifically obliged us to investigate individual misconduct, in addition to probing policy issues. A section on individual misconduct was also necessitated by our being asked to inquire into and report on a great many matters that should, at least in some measure, involve an assessment of individual conduct, including the effectiveness of decisions and actions taken by leaders in relation to a variety of important matters; operational, disciplinary, and administrative problems and the effectiveness of the reporting of and response to these problems; the manner in which the mission was conducted; allegations of cover-up and destruction of evidence; the attitude of all ranks toward the lawful conduct of operations; the treatment of detainees; and the understanding, interpretation, and application of the rules of engagement.

This part of our report is entitled "The Failures of Senior Leaders". The notion of leadership failure developed here involves the application of the principles of accountability that we discussed earlier and is informed by an appreciation of the qualities of leadership that we describe in our chapter on that subject. However, one additional specific aspect of failed leadership that is of importance in this discussion is the shortcoming which occurs when an individual fails in his or her duty as a commander.

Queen's Regulations and Orders (QR&O) art. 4.20 states that a "commanding officer" is responsible for the whole of the commanding officer's base, unit, or element and that, although a commanding officer may allocate to officers who are immediately subordinate to the commanding officer all matters of routine or of minor administration, nonetheless the commanding officer must retain for himself or herself matters of general organization and policy, important matters requiring the commanding officer's personal attention and decision, and the general control and supervision of the various duties that the commanding officer has allocated to others.

Under QR&O art. 4.10, an officer commanding a command is responsible directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) or such officer as the CDS may designate for the control or administration of all formations, bases, units, and elements allocated to the command.¹ It is our understanding that an officer commanding a command, and that all senior commanders, have, in custom and by analogy with QR&O art. 4.20, the same, or similar, responsibilities as a "commanding officer".² In other words, a commander has a duty to retain for himself or herself matters of general organization and policy, important matters requiring the commander's personal attention and decision, and the general control and supervision of the various duties that the commander has allocated to others.

The individual failures or misconduct that we describe in the following pages have been previously identified and conveyed to the individual named by means of the device referred to as a "section 13 notice". The section reference in this title is to the provision in the Inquiries Act which stipulates that:

13. No report shall be made against any person until reasonable notice has been given to the person of the charge of misconduct alleged against him and the person has been allowed full opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel.

Recipients of section 13 notices received their notices³ early in our process and before the witnesses testified. These notices were later amplified and clarified by written communications which, in turn, were the subject of further explanations offered in response to individual queries from notice recipients. All section 13 notice recipients have been extended the opportunity to respond to their notices by calling witnesses and by making oral and written submissions. This was in addition to the rights they have enjoyed throughout our proceedings to fair and comprehensive disclosure, representation by counsel, and to the examination and cross-examination of witnesses.

In several cases, as a result of the evidence received and/or the submissions made on behalf of the section 13 notice recipients, we have concluded that certain allegations contained within the notices of misconduct were not properly founded or could not be sustained, and we dismissed the allegations. What remains are our findings and conclusions with regard to the individual failings of senior leaders.

A few additional words are called for concerning the portrayal of the actions of individuals that follows. The individuals whose actions are scrutinized are members of the Canadian Forces (CF) who have had careers of high achievement. Their military records, as one would expect of soldiers who have risen so high in the CF pantheon, are without blemish. The Somalia deployment thus represents for them a stain on otherwise distinguished careers. There have been justifications or excuses advanced before us which, if accepted, might modify or attenuate the conclusions that we have reached. These have ranged from "the system performed well; it was only a few bad apples" to "there will always be errors" to "I did not know" or "I was unaware" to "it was not my responsibility" and "I trusted my subordinates". We do not review these claims individually in the pages that follow, but we have carefully considered them.

Also mitigating, to a certain extent, is the fact that these individuals must be viewed as products of a system that placed great store in the "can do" attitude. The reflex to say "yes sir" rather than to question the appropriateness of a command or policy obviously runs against the grain of free and open discussion, but it is ingrained in military discipline and culture. However, leaders properly exercising command responsibility must recognize and assert not only their right but their duty to advise against improper actions, for failing to do so means that professionalism is lost.

What remains, in the cold light of day, are our unburnished and unembellished findings of individual misconduct and failure.

1. This is confirmed by QR&O art. 3.21(1), "Command of Commands", which states: (1) Unless the Chief of the Defence Staff otherwise directs, an officer commanding a command shall exercise command over all formations, bases, units and elements allocated to the command.
2. Although QR&Q art. 4.20 does not refer specifically to "commander", it is understood that the provisions of that article regarding the responsibilities of commanding officers is applicable to all CF commanders.
3. The rank of the individual indicated in the titles of Chapters 27 to 37 is the one held by the individual at the time of receiving the section 13 notification.