Six reservists court-martialed for using abandoned vehicles on mission News
Six reservists court-martialed for using abandoned vehicles on mission

[JURIST] Six Army reservists have been court-martialed for salvaging parts and vehicles abandoned in Kuwait for a fuel delivery mission in Iraq, AP reported Monday. News of the court-martials comes shortly after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was questioned by a soldier last week about why some units in Iraq were not adequately equipped. According to one of the court-martialed soldiers, Darrel Birt, the vehicles and parts the unit took had been abandoned by other units that had already moved into Iraq. A battalion commander said the soldiers should have returned the vehicles to the proper units after using them. Lt. Col. Christopher Wicker said the soldiers instead erased identification on the vehicles and dumped them off at other bases. Birt, as well as another soldier sentenced to six months, are both applying for clemency. The Chicago Tribune has more on the court-martialed soldiers (registration required). AP has more.