[Mb-civic] Platoon Defies Orders in Iraq

[Michael Butler]

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    Platoon Defies Orders in Iraq
    By Jeremy Hudson
    The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson MS

     Friday 15 October 2004
 Miss. soldier calls home, cites safety concerns.

    A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson, Miss., and
around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a
³suicide mission² to deliver fuel, the troops¹ relatives said Thursday.

     The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq ‹ north
of Baghdad ‹ because their vehicles were considered ³deadlined² or extremely
unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.

     Sgt. McCook, a deputy at the Hinds County, Miss., 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.

     On Friday, the Army confirmed that the unit¹s actions were under
scrutiny.

     ³The commanding general of the 13th Corps Support Command has appointed
the Deputy Commander to lead an investigation into allegations that members
of the 343rd Quartermaster Company refused to participate in their assigned
convoy mission October 13,² said Lt. Col Steven A. Boylan, a spokesman for
U.S. Army and multinational forces in Iraq.

     ³The 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,² Boylan said.

     ³It is important to note that the mission in question was carried out
using other soldiers from the unit,² Boylan said.

     Boylan also confirmed that the unit is stationed in Tallil, a
logistical support air base south of Nasiriyah.

     Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., 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.

     ³I would not want any member of the military to be put in a dangerous
situation ill-equipped,² said Thompson, who was contacted by families. ³I
have had similar complaints from military families about vehicles that
weren¹t 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.

     ³President 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,² 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.

     ³I 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,² said Jackie Butler
of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Michael Butler, a 24-year reservist. ³When my
husband refuses to follow an order, it has to be something major.²

     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 mother¹s
answering machine early Thursday morning.

     ³They are holding us against our will,² McClenny said. ³We are now
prisoners.²

     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 troops¹ families purchasing body armor
because the military didn¹t 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.

     ³He told me that three of the vehicles they were to use were deadlines
... not safe to go in a hotbed like that,² Patricia McCook said.

     Hill said the trucks her daughter¹s unit was driving could not top 40
mph.

     ³They knew there was a 99 percent chance they were going to get
ambushed or fired at,² Hill said her daughter told her. ³They would have had
no way to fight back.²

     Kathy Harris of Vicksburg, Miss., 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.

     ³When I talked to him about a month ago, he was fine,² Stratford said.
³He said it was like being at home.²

 

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