Let's ask a few hard questions ourselves. Firstly why was the gun loaded?

The soldier is in a military zone. Private Jacob Kovco is participating in a war; as an armed combatant. It is perfectly legitimate of him to carry a loaded firearm. This is believable, and it is most probably true that he carried a firearm ready for combat.

So why was he cleaning his firearm?

It is practice to clean a firearm. A firearm will become inaccurate after disuse due to the buildup of dirt and grit in the chamber, barrel and working mechanisms. A well used firearm does require cleaning as well, due to the nature of gunpowder used. The gunpowder is slightly chorosive and will wear out the barrel of a firearm if it is not cleaned regularly and properly. The regular armed forces of Australia have a minimum two-year intensive weapons training; included is the safe handling and cleaning of firearms. Private Jacob Kovco was not merely egular army, but a member of a special trained force sent to Iraq - SECDET. Private Jacob Kovco's training in firearms was superior to regular army.

Now here is the hard one. Why was the firearm loaded AND fully assembled while being cleaned by Private Jacob Kovco?

"Soldiers in a combat situation, especially if outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, would not necessarily unload their weapons to clean them", The Australian Defence Association's executive director Neil James said.

A soldier in a Red Zone would be expecting combat at any moment and may carry out a provisionary weapons clean of a firearm while it is loaded. However cleaning a firearm in this way is an action clean, which does not involve the cleaning of the barrel, nor the trigger. It is important to note that Private Jacob Kovco was located well within a Green Zone and was in fact sitting in his barracks. Whether he was alone or not we can only speculate. Firearms cleaning protocal in this situation requires one to check if the firearm is unloaded, if so unload the firearm, and also remove the bolt and firing pin from the firearm. Without the bolt and firing pin the firearm cannot discharge. Obviously none of these first procedural steps were taken.

This leads to the dissambly of the firearm. To properly clean any firearm, and by Australian Defence Force procedure, the firearm must be dissambled, thereby destroying is functionality.

Neil James said that "He (Private Jacob Kovco) would have been cleaning (his rifle) and to do that you've got to disassemble the weapon, and to do that you have to carry out some safety precautions."

Let us assume three things. That Private Jacob Kovco did not unload his firearm. That Private Jacob Kovco did not disassemble his firearm. That Private Jacob Kovco was indeed cleaning his firearm. Private Jacob Kovco would have had to point the barrel of the firearm toward his own head for his death, in the manner that it ocurred, to occur. The Australian Defence Force has not released the model of the firearm that Private Jacob Kovco was cleaning. However Australian Standards of Firearm safety insist that a firearm never be pointed or aimed at an object that one would not want to hit, nor a living object that one would not want to kill.

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