Platoon defies orders in Iraq

[cato2]

Sad day indeed if this report is true. The people face the prospect of battle without having what is necessary to fight the enemy. We also have to consider where those supplies were going and if the lack of supplies would have endangered those soldiers as well. Hard choices, hard war.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pb...=2004410150366


Platoon defies orders in Iraq

Miss. soldier calls home, cites safety concerns

By Jeremy Hudson
jehudson@clarionledger.com

A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops' relatives said Thursday. The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq — north of Baghdad — because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.

Sgt. McCook, a deputy at the Hinds County Detention Center, and the 16 other members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company from Rock Hill, S.C., were read their rights and moved from the military barracks into tents, Patricia McCook said her husband told her during a panicked phone call about 5 a.m. Thursday.

The platoon could be charged with the willful disobeying of orders, punishable by dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and up to five years confinement, said military law expert Mark Stevens, an associate professor of justice studies at Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, N.C.

No military officials were able to confirm or deny the detainment of the platoon Thursday.

But today, Sgt. Salju Thomas of the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad issued a statement saying that an investigation has begun.

"The Commander General of the 13 Corps Support Group has appointed a deputy commander to lead an investigation into allegations that members of the 343 Quartermaster Company refused to participate in theri assigned convoy mission on Oct. 13," Thomas' statement said.

The investigation team is currently in Tallil taking statements and interviewing those involved, Thomas said in the statement.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said he plans to submit a congressional inquiry today on behalf of the Mississippi soldiers to launch an investigation into whether they are being treated improperly.

"I would not want any member of the military to be put in a dangerous situation ill-equipped," said Thompson, who was contacted by families. "I have had similar complaints from military families about vehicles that weren't armor-plated, or bullet-proof vests that are outdated. It concerns me because we made over $150 billion in funds available to equip our forces in Iraq.

"President Bush takes the position that the troops are well-armed, but if this situation is true, it calls into question how honest he has been with the country," Thompson said.

The 343rd is a supply unit whose general mission is to deliver fuel and water. The unit includes three women and 14 men and those with ranking up to sergeant first class.

"I got a call from an officer in another unit early (Thursday) morning who told me that my husband and his platoon had been arrested on a bogus charge because they refused to go on a suicide mission," said Jackie Butler of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Michael Butler, a 24-year reservist. "When my husband refuses to follow an order, it has to be something major."

The platoon being held has troops from Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi and South Carolina, said Teresa Hill of Dothan, Ala., whose daughter Amber McClenny is among those being detained.

McClenny, 21, pleaded for help in a message left on her mother's answering machine early Thursday morning.

"They are holding us against our will," McClenny said. "We are now prisoners."

McClenny told her mother her unit tried to deliver fuel to another base in Iraq Wednesday, but was sent back because the fuel had been contaminated with water. The platoon returned to its base, where it was told to take the fuel to another base, McClenny told her mother.

The platoon is normally escorted by armed Humvees and helicopters, but did not have that support Wednesday, McClenny told her mother.

The convoy trucks the platoon was driving had experienced problems in the past and were not being properly maintained, Hill said her daughter told her.

The situation mirrors other tales of troops being sent on missions without proper equipment.

Aviation regiments have complained of being forced to fly dangerous missions over Iraq with outdated night-vision goggles and old missile-avoidance systems. Stories of troops' families purchasing body armor because the military didn't provide them with adequate equipment have been included in recent presidential debates.

Patricia McCook said her husband, a staff sergeant, understands well the severity of disobeying orders. But he did not feel comfortable taking his soldiers on another trip.

"He told me that three of the vehicles they were to use were deadlines ... not safe to go in a hotbed like that," Patricia McCook said.

Hill said the trucks her daughter's unit was driving could not top 40 mph.

"They knew there was a 99 percent chance they were going to get ambushed or fired at," Hill said her daughter told her. "They would have had no way to fight back."

Kathy Harris of Vicksburg is the mother of Aaron Gordon, 20, who is among those being detained. Her primary concern is that she has been told the soldiers have not been provided access to a judge advocate general.

Stevens said if the soldiers are being confined, law requires them to have a hearing before a magistrate within seven days.

Harris said conditions for the platoon have been difficult of late. Her son e-mailed her earlier this week to ask what the penalty would be if he became physical with a commanding officer, she said.

But Nadine Stratford of Rock Hill, S.C., said her godson Colin Durham, 20, has been happy with his time in Iraq. She has not heard from him since the platoon was detained.

"When I talked to him about a month ago, he was fine," Stratford said. "He said it was like being at home."

[AndJusticeForAll]

Originally Posted by cato2

Hard choices, hard war.

Yes indeed. What makes it worse is that we continue to take casualties.

Thanks for the link cato2.

[cato2]

This is disturbing and needs a thorough investigation.

[The_Federalist]

Hmmm a couple concerns I have with this situation.

1. As a soldier you don't get a vote if you want to complete a mission because it might be unsafe. If you think something is an egregious risk, then you have a right to bring it up to your CoC, but once the decision has been made by your commander you don't get to say no.

How many soldiers refused to storm the beaches of Normandy because they might come under enemy fire, and their LCTs weren't bullet proof? How many paratroopers refused to jump on D-Day because the transports they were flying in weren't armored? Did Ira Hayes and the rest of his band refuse to climb that bloody hill and raise the flag over Iwo Jima because he thought it might be dangerous?

2. I am unsure what standards they are using to say these vehicles are deadlined. I have seen M1s that are deadlined because the crew fire extinguisher bracket was broken. Just because a vehicle has been deadlined, doesn't make it inherently unsafe.

3. When you say no, your fellow Soldiers to the right or the left gets to pick up the slack for you, and ultimately take the bullet that might have been meant for you.

[las47032]

Sorry I'm a tad bit late in posting this story.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army is investigating reports that several members of a reservist supply unit in Iraq refused to go on a convoy mission, the military said Friday. Relatives of the soldiers said the troops considered the mission too dangerous.

The reservists are from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, which is based in Rock Hill, S.C. The unit delivers food and water in combat zones.

According to The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., a platoon of 17 soldiers refused to go on a fuel supply mission Wednesday because their vehicles were in poor shape and they did not have a capable armed escort.

The paper cited interviews with family members of some of the soldiers, who said the soldiers had been confined after their refusals. The mission was carried out by other soldiers from the 343rd, which has at least 120 soldiers, the military said.

Convoys in Iraq are frequently subject to ambushes and roadside bombings.

A whole unit refusing to go on a mission in a war zone would be a significant breach of military discipline. A statement from the military's press center in Baghdad called the incident "isolated."

"The investigating team is currently in Tallil taking statements and interviewing those involved. This is an isolated incident and it is far too early in the investigation to speculate as to what happened, why it happened or any action that might be taken," the coalition press information center said in the statement, sent to The Associated Press in Washington.

In the statement, U.S. military officials said the commanding general of the 13th Corps Support Command had appointed his deputy commander to investigate the incident.

The statement did not confirm several aspects of the relatives' stories, including the number of soldiers involved and the reason they refused the mission.

The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq - north of Baghdad - because their vehicles were considered extremely unsafe, Patricia McCook of Jackson, Miss., told The Clarion-Ledger. Her husband, Sgt. Larry O. McCook, was among those detained, she said, saying her husband had telephoned her from Iraq.

The platoon being held has troops from Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi and South Carolina, said Teresa Hill of Dothan, Ala., who told the newspaper her daughter Amber McClenny is among those being detained.

Patricia McCook said her husband told her he did not feel comfortable taking his soldiers on another trip.

"He told me that three of the vehicles they were to use were 'deadlines' ... not safe to go in a hotbed like that," she said, according to the newspaper.

U.S. Probes if GIs Refused Iraq Mission
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041015/D85O0B2O0.html

Related story.

Platoon defies orders in Iraq; cites safety concerns
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm

[AndJusticeForAll]

I have moved this from GMD to P/CP and combined the thread by las into it.

[Hannibal]

I agree with Fed, just because the mission is dangerous is no reason to not do it. What the h? "Nah too dangerous sir, I am going to sit this one out... uh because the vehicles are broke.... uh no because the fuel is contaminated.... uh too dangerous...."

Fed is right again when he says,

3. When you say no, your fellow Soldiers to the right or the left gets to pick up the slack for you, and ultimately take the bullet that might have been meant for you.

And guess who did the mission? They're fellow soldiers from the same company. And I might add, no incidents on that mission.

To address the 'suicide mission' complaint. A suicide mission (which this was not) is not an illegal order that you can refuse. A 'stupid order' is not the same as an 'illegal order'.

Just watched that brief by the general in Iraq.. oops fuel not contaminated.... oops, they had convoy escort on the mission.... They are screwed.

The bottom line is that it was the NCOs at fault here in that platoon and I dare say the platoon leader (if there was one). It is obvious that the PL or the PSG are the ones that started this and I am sure they are the ones that will bare the brunt of the punishment.

-Jason