- BAGHDAD, Iraq -- 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.
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- The soldiers, now under investigation, had previously
focused on local missions in safer parts of southern Iraq and had never
driven a convoy north along the attack-prone roads passing through Baghdad.
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- "Not all of their trucks are completely armored.
In their case, they haven't had the chance to get armored," said Brig.
Gen. James E. Chambers, commanding general of 13th Corps Support Command,
which sends some 250 convoys ferrying Army fuel, food and ammunition across
Iraq each day.
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- Chambers, speaking at a press conference in Baghdad,
said the 18 soldiers involved in the incident had returned to duty and
it was "too early" to determine if any will undergo disciplinary
action.
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- He said a pair of investigations are examining the soldiers'
disobedience as well as their allegations that the trucks were unfit for
the hazardous journey. He declined to discuss particulars, citing the soldiers'
rights.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "They were concerned about the maintenance,"
Chambers said. "If there is a maintenance issue, we'll clear it up."
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- Chambers downplayed the incident, saying the disobedience
not indicative of wider U.S. Army morale or maintenance problems. The 18
soldiers were "moved to a separate location" for questioning
and have all since returned to duty, the general said.
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- But Chambers did not downplay the danger of driving Iraq's
roads, a job that has become the equivalent of front-line combat with Iraq's
insurgency, whose deadliest weapon is the hidden roadside bomb.
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- "In Jim Chambers' opinion, the most dangerous job
in Iraq is driving a truck," he said. Soldiers take their missions
realizing "it's not if, but when, they will be attacked."
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- The Army announced last week it was investigating up
to 19 members of a platoon from the 343rd Quartermaster Company based in
Rock Hill, South Carolina.
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- On Wednesday, 19 members of the platoon did not show
up for a scheduled 7 a.m. meeting in Tallil to prepare for the fuel convoy's
departure a few hours later, a military statement said.
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- The general said a pair of investigations were already
under way, and said there were just 18 soldiers whose actions were being
probed.
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- The first investigation, overseen by the 13th Coscom's
inspector general and deputy commander, is looking into maintenance and
safety practices at the Talil air base, where the 343rd is based.
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- The second, headed by the commander of the 300th Area
Support Group, has ordered a criminal inquiry to determine if any soldiers
committed crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and, if so,
whether disciplinary measures are warranted.
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- "Based on our investigations, other actions may
be necessary," Chambers said.
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- As a result of the incident, the entire 343rd is in the
midst of a two-week "stand down," bolting on new armor and upgrading
maintenance on its vehicles. The 18 soldiers under investigation must complete
additional training and win re-certification to regain permission to perform
convoy missions, Chambers said.
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- He said the incident and ongoing maintenance pause had
no effects on supplying the U.S. military here. The 21-vehicle convoy still
made the run Wednesday, albeit late.
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- The 15,000 troops under Chambers' command - almost 90
percent of whom are Reservists or National Guard soldiers - have completed
75,000 convoy missions covering the length and breadth of Iraq and suffered
26 killed since April, Chambers said. No members of the 343rd have been
killed in Iraq in the nine months they've been here, the general said.
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- He denied claims by some of the soldiers to their families
that the fuel they were to deliver was contaminated. The platoon has troops
from Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi and South Carolina.
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