Media Room: Media Releases

TWO INQUIRY OFFICER REPORTS RELEASED INTO

THE DEATH OF LIEUTENANT MICHAEL FUSSELL

The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, today released details about the death of Lieutenant Michael Fussell who was killed on operations in Afghanistan on 27 November 2008.

Two Inquiry Officer reports were conducted to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of Lieutenant Fussell.

The first report was an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death in combat. The second report was a subsequent inquiry into concerns identified in the initial inquiry regarding the preparation, training and leadership of the force element of which Lieutenant Fussell was a member.

Lieutenant Fussell was an artillery officer in the Australian Regular Army. He was posted to the 4^th Battalion (Commando), The Royal Australian Regiment and serving with the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan.  

A transcript of Air Chief Marshal Houston’s statement at the media conference today can be found at:

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/SpeechTpl.cfm?CurrentId=9650      

A transcript of the questions and answers at media conference can be found at:

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/SpeechTpl.cfm?CurrentId=9653

Audio of Air Chief Marshal Houston’s media conference can be found at:

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/audio/2009/Nov/20091102/index.htm

Copies of the Inquiry Officer reports and other related documents can be found at:

http://www.defence.gov.au/coi/

Redactions to some documents have been made in order to protect our personnel conducting operations and the privacy of the individuals involved.

Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664