Mejia post continued..refusal to be killed..
> To make matters worse, Mejia found his officers to be glory-obsessed and
> intentionally reckless with the safety of their men. In particular, he
> says, they wanted the Army's much-coveted Combat Infantry Badge-an award
> bestowed only on those who have met and engaged the enemy. "To be a
> twenty-year career infantry officer and not have your CIB is like being a
> chef and having never cooked or being a fireman and never having put out a
> fire," Mejia says. "These guys were really hungry, and we were the bait."
> In one attempt to draw enemy fire, Mejia's company-about 120 guys divided
> evenly into four platoons-was ordered to occupy key intersections in
> Ramadi, a notoriously violent Iraqi city, for several days running. "All
> the guys were really nervous. This was a total violation of standard
> operating procedure. They train you to keep moving, not sit in the open."
> Finally the enemy attacked, and a platoon in Mejia's company took
> casualties.
> When the troops were ordered to perform the exact same maneuvers again,
> Mejia refused. "I told them, I quit." Luckily for him the four staff
> sergeants of the platoon that had taken casualties also refused to go out.
> Technically, refusing an order in a combat situation can be charged as
> mutiny. But in a tense meeting with their commanding officer, the staff
> sergeants negotiated a new plan of action that allowed the GIs to vary the
> timing and movement of their patrols. After these changes, Mejia agreed to
> go. "We went out two hours earlier than usual, and because of that we
> caught these young guys setting an IED (improvised explosive device) of
> three mortars wrapped together." If Mejia's squad had set out according
> the Commanding Officers' original plan, he believes that some of the guys
> in his squad would have been killed. For its part, the Florida National
> Guard claims that Mejia was a bad sergeant and that he was not aggressive
> enough in engaging what all admit is a highly elusive enemy.
> Spc. Oliver Perez, who served with Mejia, disagrees. "I fought next to him
> in many battles. He is not a coward," said Perez, who has also said he
> will testify on Mejia's behalf if the Army proceeds with a court-martial. |
