None of troops refusing mission from South Carolina

ROCK HILL (AP) — A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says none of the 18 Army reservists who refused to complete a mission in Iraq are South Carolinians.

‘‘After our discussions with military officials, it is our understanding none are from South Carolina,’’ Kevin Bishop said Wednesday.

Eighteen soldiers from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, based in Rock Hill, are under investigation for refusing to drive a fuel convoy from Tallil air base near Nasiriyah to Taji north of Baghdad.

The soldiers have told their families they balked at the mission earlier this month because the vehicles were unarmored and in poor condition. They said complaints to their commander about concerns went unheeded.

A Rock Hill native in the fuel platoon of the 343rd, 20-year-old Spec. Colin Durham, is not among the soldiers under investigation, his father, Roy Miles Jr., of Greenville told The Herald of Rock Hill.

Miles talked with his son Friday. ‘‘He’s safe and he’s fine,’’ Miles said.

Durham spoke little about the situation, but told his father the unit was being retrained, Miles said.

At least 26 of the unit’s 119 soldiers were from other states in the Southeast, Army Reserve officials have said. According to family members of some of the soldiers involved, some under investigation are from North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.

While the investigation is continuing, the unit’s mission remains suspended, said Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, director of public affairs for the multinational force in Iraq.

No decision has been made about disciplinary action.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com