Unit Refused Iraq Mission, Military Says

[mrbowler]

Don't know what to make of this report, but thought it would be something to follow:

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"Relatives of soldiers who refused to deliver supplies in Iraq say the troops considered the mission too dangerous, in part because their vehicles were in poor shape."

"A commanding general has ordered the unit to undergo a "safety-maintenance stand down," during which it will conduct no further missions as the unit's vehicles are inspected, the military said."


Staff Sgt. Christopher Stokes, a 37-year-old chemical engineer from Charlotte, N.C., went to Iraq with the 343rd but had to come home because of an injury. He said reservists were given inferior equipment and tensions in the company had been building since they were deployed in February.

"It wasn't really safe," he said. "The vehicles are not all that up to par anyway. The armor that they have is homemade. It's not really armor. It's like little steel rails."

[whitequeen96]

I just read this! Wow, those guys are in a tough situation. How awful to think that you might die and leave your family bereft because of something like this. It would be especially terrible if you didn't agree with the war. I really feel for those guys!

[luvmetender]

good for them! high time they started to stand up for their own lives!!

[mrbowler]

This explains it pretty well.


GIs Who Refused Job Had Unarmored Trucks:

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"The U.S. Army Reserve soldiers who refused orders to drive a dangerous route were members of one of a few supply units whose trucks are still unarmored, their commanding general said Sunday."


"Chambers said 80 percent of the 13th Coscom's 4,000 trucks have been fitted with custom steel plate, but some of those in the unit that balked, the 343rd Quartermaster Company, were among the last left unarmored, because the unit's mission normally confines it to a less dangerous part of Iraq.

None of the 13th Coscom's trucks arrived in Iraq with armor. Since February, the unit's engineers and private contractors have been working in impromptu maintenance yards to weld heavy metal "boxes" over truck cabs.

Chambers said the 18 soldiers who refused the mission on Wednesday morning - driving seven fuel tankers from Tallil air base near Nasiriyah to Taji north of Baghdad - also appeared to have also balked at their mission because of the trucks' bad condition.

"They were concerned about the maintenance," Chambers said. "If there is a maintenance issue, we'll clear it up."

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by luvmetender

good for them! high time they started to stand up for their own lives!!

Couple bad apples or more?

What does it take for a man like Staff Sgt. Michael Butler, a 24-year veteran of the Army and the Reserve who was a soldier in the first Persian Gulf war and a reserve called up to fight in the current war in Iraq, to risk everything by disobeying a direct order in wartime?


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[Highwaychild77]

Originally Posted by mrbowler

Couple bad apples or more?

I have to agree wth luv. These reservists and even active duty soldiers have to be sick of watching their fellow soldiers die because of poor planning. Where is that 180 billion to fight the war?

[luvmetender]

Great article, mrbowler.

To even mention "treason" is unbelievable. These soldiers were NOT defending the US!!!