Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says the New Zealand defence force is rectifying problems after its own inquiry found the death of a soldier in Afghanistan last year could have been prevented.
Private Mila was killed when the vehicle in which he was travelling rolled off the road down a steep bank in the North East of Bamyan Province.
[image:4933:third:right]The Court of Inquiry found that none of the occupants were wearing seatbelts and personnel were unaware of the roll-over procedures.
Private Mila was not wearing a gunner harness because the Humvee was not fitted with one.
Dr Coleman says in future the person in the turret will be wearing a harness and they are looking at the issue of seatbelts.
He says there will also be some roll-over training.
Private Mila was the vehicle gunner in the lead Humvee during a routine patrol as part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Province.
The inquiry found that personnel were predominantly unaware of parts of the Humvee operators manual - including the roll-over procedures.
Labour comment
Labour Party defence spokesperson says the minister of defence needs to assure the public that adequate training is being given to the force's personnel.
Labour's Iain Lees-Galloway says the buck stops with the minister.
"He has to get a bit hands on here and make sure these systemic problems are being dealt with. He can't just wait for one court of inquiry after another to come up with recommendations that people ought to be trained to use the equipment they are using."
