Anybody Hear About This Case

This has been covered by one local tv station in my area,
but I don't see anything in the national media about it.

Senator Wants Clemency For Soldiers Who Scrounged Equipment

POSTED: 9:58 am EST December 15, 2004

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine asked the Army to grant clemency to two Ohio soldiers imprisoned for taking Army vehicles abandoned in Kuwait by other units so they could carry out their own unit's mission to Iraq.


In a letter to Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, commander of the multinational force in Iraq, DeWine asked that the punishment for Darrell Birt, of Columbus, and Maj. Cathy Kaus be reduced to time served.

"Adequate prison time is already being completed, and any further punishment is simply excessive," DeWine said in the letter to Metz dated Tuesday.

Birt, Kaus and four other members of the 656th Transportation Company based in Springfield, west of Columbus, said they needed the equipment to deliver fuel that was needed by U.S. forces in Iraq for everything from helicopters to tanks.

The six reservists were court-martialed and charged with theft, destruction of Army property and conspiracy to cover up their crimes. Birt said he and two others pleaded guilty and the other three were convicted. All received six-month sentences.

DeWine requested that Kaus be released early from prison. Currently Kaus can be released on Dec. 25. Birt, a former chief warrant officer, has completed his prison sentence.

Clemency could restore their military benefits and change their dishonorable discharges.

DeWine's request came a week after U.S. soldiers complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in Kuwait that they have to scrounge in landfills for scrap metal and discarded bullet-resistant glass to provide armor for their vehicles.

A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with U.S. Army Public Affairs.

Meanwhile, amid increasing criticism on Capitol Hill, Army officials say they are speeding production of armored vehicles for use in Iraq.

Maj. Gen. Steven Speakes said more than $4 billion will be spent on vehicle production in the next six to nine months. He said Rumsfeld has made it clear that cost is no object "when it involves a soldier's life."

Rumsfeld was embroiled in controversy over armor at a speech in Kuwait a week ago. When asked by a soldier why troops had to hunt down scrap metal to armor their vehicles, Rumsfeld told the soldier, "You go to war with the Army you have."

Previous Stories:
December 13, 2004: Six Reservists Court-Martialed For Scrounging Equipment
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed