The US army is today investigating up to 19 members of a supply platoon in Iraq who refused to go on a convoy mission.
Relatives of the soldiers said the troops considered the mission too dangerous, in part because their vehicles were in such poor condition.
The soldiers, reservists from a fuel platoon that is part of the 343rd Quartermaster Company, delivers food, water and fuel on trucks in combat zones.
The incident was first reported yesterday by The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. Family members told the newspaper that several platoon members had been confined, but the military did not confirm that.
A commanding general has ordered the unit to undergo a "safety-maintenance stand down," during which it will conduct no further missions as the unit's vehicles undergo safety inspections, the military said.
On Wednesday, 19 members of the platoon did not parade for a morning meeting in Tallil, in south-eastern Iraq, to prepare for the fuel convoy's departure a few hours later, the military statement said.
"An initial report indicated that some of the 19 soldiers refused to participate in the convoy as directed."
The mission was ultimately carried out by other soldiers from the 343rd, which has at least 120 soldiers.
Convoys in Iraq are frequently subject to ambushes and roadside bombings. Staff Sgt Christopher Stokes, a 37-year-old chemical engineer from Charlotte, North Carolina, went to Iraq with the 343rd but had to come home because of an injury.
He said reservists were given inferior equipment and tensions in the company had been building since they were deployed in February.
"It wasn't really safe," he said. "The vehicles are not all that up to par anyway. The armour that they have is home made. It's not really armour. It's like little steel rails."
A whole unit refusing to go on a mission in a war zone would be a significant breach of military discipline. The military statement called the incident "isolated" and called the 343rd an experienced unit that performed honourable service in nine months in Iraq.
"Preliminary findings indicate that there were several contributing factors that led to the late convoy incident and alleged refusal to participate by some soldiers," the military said. "It would be inappropriate to discuss those factors while the investigation continues."
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomber killed three US troops and an Iraqi civilian in an attack near Iraq's border with Syria, the US military said today.
A spokeswoman said one marine and two soldiers had died in blast last night in the town of Qaim about 310 km west of Baghdad. No other details were available.
Today, a mortar attack on the town killed four Iraqis and wounded 30, a hospital doctor said.
The doctor, contacted by telephone from Ramadi, west of Baghdad, said several rounds had hit the town during the morning attack. There was no word on who was responsible.
Agencies