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| Iraq | |
| Soldiers faces punishment Iraq insubordination | |
| 2004-11-16 | |
| A US Army investigation has recommended punishment for two dozen members of a supply platoon that refused orders to deliver fuel to an army base in an area of Iraq where insurgents were active, a US army official has said. The official said four or five members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company could face court martial but the others faced administrative punishment ranging from reprimands to fines and demotions, or a combination of the three. Some members of the army reserve unit already have been notified of so-called Article 15 actions that carry administrative punishment, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The inquiry was opened after 18 soldiers refused orders on October 13 to go on what relatives later said was a "suicide mission" through rebel territory to deliver fuel to an army base in Taji, north of Baghdad, from Tallil air base in a relatively quiet part of southern Iraq. Six others initially refused the orders as well but then relented. Those six were believed to have received reprimands or to have been reassigned, the official said. "Of the 18, there are four or five who could face court martial," the army official said. The soldiers complained through family members in the United States that their trucks were poorly maintained and lacked armour protection for the mission. The mission was carried out without incident hours later by a replacement crew, according to Pentagon officials, who portrayed the incident as an isolated case of insubordination. Brigadier General James Chambers, the commander of the 13th Corps Support Command, relieved the commander of the supply company at her request about a week after the incident, a sign that the breakdown in discipline was seen in part as a failure of leadership.
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| Posted by:God Save The World |