U.S. Rep. Max Burns wants someone at the Pentagon to tell him why the 319th Transportation Company hasn't come home yet.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
Related Links
• Read other stories about the 319th in our Iraq section
|
Have a thought?
Go to the Forums or Chat.
|
|
|
Mr. Burns, R-Ga., whose office was contacted by 319th Staff Sgt. Robert Curl from Kuwait, wrote a letter last week asking the Defense Department to "review the information on the homecoming of the 319th and provide me with a clear understanding of the reasons these soldiers might be kept in-theater for a greater length of time than others."
The 12th Congressional District representative said he does not want the United States to pull out of Iraq, but to rotate out troops who have been there a long time.
"They've done their part," Mr. Burns said of the 319th, an Augusta-based Army Reserve unit. "They've done a marvelous job."
Mr. Burns, whose district includes parts of Augusta, had not received an answer to the letter Monday, said his chief of staff, Chris Ingram.
319th soldiers say the Army has been pushing back their return date for months, weakening their morale. Most of the unit's 130 soldiers still in Kuwait were deployed in mid-February, following an advance team of 20 soldiers who arrived in November.
The unit hauled bulk fuel for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force during its drive to Baghdad. Members expected to be sent home after the war but instead were put to work for the Army. They say they are now providing security as shotgun riders in civilian fuel trucks operated by Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton Corp.
The Army Corps of Engineers has allocated as much as $460 million for a contract with Kellogg Brown and Root in its work to restore Iraqi oil operations, according to the company.
319th soldiers and family members have said that at one point the soldiers had their bags and gear loaded to leave, then were told to unpack. Relatives have said that earlier this month, one of the civilian trucks was struck in a mortar attack, resulting in minor injuries.
"They were sent over there for a mission, and when that mission was over, they were supposed to come home," said Staff Sgt. Curl's wife, Jenny, 42, of Tattnall County. "That was my understanding."
This month, troops in the theater began publicly complaining about conditions in Iraq. A Pentagon spokeswoman said Friday that the Army is considering whether to punish the soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division interviewed in an ABC News report. One soldier called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Criticism of superior officers is a breach of military rules.
Speaking by cell phone from Kuwait, Capt. Mohandas Martin, the commander of the 319th, said no one in the unit has been disciplined for speaking out in a July 12 story in The Augusta Chronicle.
Associated Press reports were used in this article.
Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.
|
319th Transportation Company: Previous Stories
|
|
|
