Sergeant Gavin Hillier, 35, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died in the Castlemartin area of Pembrokeshire on March 4 last year. The shooter, listed as Guardsman 1 in a report from the Defense Security Authority, met the Army’s minimum entry standards only when wearing his lenses. On the day Sgt Hillier was hit, it is likely that Guardsman 1 “overrode Sgt Hillier for the SFT (switch fire target)”, the report found. Not wearing his lenses was something that “significantly affected” his “ability to identify, acquire and then engage the correct target.” In order for Guardsman 1 to see the same amount of detail as a person with normal vision, he would have to be “three times closer using both eyes (binocular vision) or six times closer using only his right eye,” he added. the exhibition. . On the night of the incident, the shooter was approximately 290 meters from the target he was supposed to be aiming for. With uncorrected vision, he would have seen the target “with the same detail as someone with normal vision would at 1,740 meters,” the report said. The gunner, who had been in the Army for 18 months at the time of the incident, had previously been refused entry due to “visual acuity”. Image: Castlemartin Training Ground in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Photo: Google Street View Many recommendations have been made to avoid something similar in the future. They include making sure soldiers who need lenses realize they have a responsibility to wear them “for all safety-critical tasks.” There is also a call for a “safeguard mechanism” to ensure they are worn “prior to live firing”. Sergeant Hillier had a “remarkable career”, the Ministry of Defense previously said, and had deployed to operations in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. His wife said: “We are absolutely devastated and cannot express how proud we are of you. “Our boys will continue to make you proud and you will live on forever through them.” An inquest into Sgt Hillier’s death was opened at Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire Coroner’s Court last year. An Army spokesman said: “Our thoughts and condolences remain with the family and friends of Sergeant Gavin Hillier at this sad time. “We are supporting the ongoing investigation into the incident, which is being led by Dyfed-Powys Police, so it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
