Making Do in Iraq

Soldier praised and prosecuted for scrounging parts to aid unit

Monday, December 13, 2004

Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

GARRETT HUBBARD | DISPATCH

Darrell Birt holds Ty Thompson, the son of a family friend, at a church Christmas dinner.

What Darrell Birt did in Iraq earned him the Bronze Star.

What Darrell Birt did in Iraq also got him six months in military prison.

The 45-year-old Army reservist from the Far West Side knows of the situations faced by the soldiers who recently complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about having to scrounge through Kuwaiti landfills to equip themselves for duty in Iraq.

Birt, who served as a maintenance technician with the 656 th Transportation Company based in Springfield, used abandoned U.S. military vehicles and parts to better protect his own unit as it headed into Iraq on fuel-delivery missions.

For that, he was cited in May 2003 for "leadership, unwavering commitment to mission accomplishment and technical expertise . . . above and beyond the call of duty." A year later, he was among six unit members court-martialed, convicted of theft and destruction of Army property, and sentenced to six months’ confinement.

Birt pleaded guilty, he said, "because I’m a Christian, and I did do it."

But his unit didn’t have enough vehicles to carry its equipment, he said. The two tractortrailers and a 5-ton truck from which he helped remove parts had been abandoned in Kuwait by other units that already had moved into Iraq.

He said he’s "kind of but not totally surprised" by the news that troops still must improvise to ensure their own protection.

"The higher-ups are either not telling him the whole story or he doesn’t want to hear the whole story," Birt said of Rumsfeld.

Lt. Col. Christopher Wicker, the former battalion commander in charge of the 656 th and other units, said Birt and others should have returned the vehicles after they completed their mission. Instead, he said, they erased identity marks before "dumping them" at military bases.

Birt said no one in the unit personally profited from their actions. But they ended up paying.

He was released in October and returned to his wife and two children in Columbus. He has so far unsuccessfully appealed his discharge from the Army — he does get to keep his Bronze Star — and he said he also lost his job.

Unlike 23 reservists from another Army unit who in October refused to carry out a mission transporting fuel in poorly protected vehicles, Birt said he and his colleagues "did what was necessary." The Army has said that the other unit’s members won’t be court-martialed.

A former Marine who enlisted at age 19 and served 10½ years, Birt joined the Army Reserve in 1991 and had been with the 656 th since 1992.

He said the 656 th arrived in the Persian Gulf with Humvees equipped with soft vinyl doors and didn’t have enough vehicles for vital equipment.

A fellow soldier wrote on his behalf that Birt’s actions helped save lives in his 160-member unit. The 656 th suffered just four injuries and no battlefield deaths during its year in the Persian Gulf. It did take fire from Iraqi insurgents.

The couple’s pastor, the Rev. Randy Barr of Grove City Church of God, said the ordeal has been "very emotionally draining for his wife (Janet) and kids."

Barr said the church has supported the family, though. Through letters home, Birt also encouraged his children, Amanda and Jacob, to stay firm in their faith and "have fun growing up."

"The positive in this is God is gracious," Birt said.

"My family and I are back together. I didn’t lose anything."

Information from the Associated Press was included in this story .

rvitale@dispatch.com