BAGHDAD, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- As many as 19 members of a U.S. Army reserve unit are being investigated for allegedly refusing to go on what they deemed to be a suicide mission.
The reservists, based in Rock Hill, S.C., refused to deliver a fuel shipment north of Baghdad in unarmored trucks that had not been properly serviced and would not have an armed escorts, the New York Times reported Saturday.
As a result they were taken at gunpoint Thursday and detained, relatives of the detainees said.
Insubordination in wartime is a grave offense, and an inquiry is under way to determine if the Uniform Code of Military Justice was violated and whether disciplinary measures were warranted, a senior Army officer who requested anonymity said.
The episode apparently began after the reservists delivered jet fuel to a base in Tallil, only to have commanders at that base reject the fuel because it was contaminated with diesel fuel, relatives of the reservists said. The reservists were then ordered to drive the fuel to Taji, at which point they refused.
The reservists have been released from detention, but could be reprimanded or even court-martialed.
