Court Martial for Comshaw [Cumshaw] Artists

Just about everybody has seen an episode of M.A.S.H., or McHale's Navy, or a war movie where military equipment is unofficially appropriated for use by another unit. One of my favorites is Operation Petticoat where Tony Curtis plays the part of an officer who steals all the parts and equipment needed to make a submarine seaworthy and then purloins a pig for Christmas dinner. It's all hilarious fun. Unfortunately, the real world holds rewards for comshaw artists that are dramatically different. From the Dayton Daily News (free reg.) comes this story:

COLUMBUS - At a time when some U.S. troops in Iraq are complaining they have to scrounge for equipment, six Ohio-based reservists were court-martialed for taking Army vehicles abandoned in Kuwait by other units so they could carry out their own unit's mission to Iraq.

The soldiers say they needed the vehicles, and parts stripped from one, to deliver fuel to Iraq, but their former battalion commander said Sunday the troops should at least have returned the vehicles to their original units.

Members of the 656th Transportation Company based in Springfield said they needed the equipment to deliver fuel needed by U.S. forces in Iraq for everything from helicopters to tanks.

They took two tractor-trailer rigs and stripped parts from a 5-ton truck. The vehicles were said to be abandoned. Afterwards, they destroyed the trucks which, according to Lt. Col. Christopher Wicker, former commander over the 656th Transportation Company, was essentially doing the enemy's job. "Those trucks could be used for other units," said Wicker.

After an investigation, former company commander, Maj. Catherine Kaus, former Chief Warrant Officer Darrell Birt, and four others were court martialed on charges of theft, destruction of Army property and conspiracy to cover up their crimes. Each was sentenced to six months confinement and given a dishonorable discharge with loss of all military benefits.

My take is that the punishment seems unreasonably harsh. Their actions, despite not being well thought out, were conducted for the sake of a military mission, not personal gain.

More coverage: Blogs Of War

[Update] Interestingly, Rusty Shackleford and I were thinking of the same thing (Operation Petticoat) when we independently wrote posts on this story.