corrente

Remember that Reserve outfit I posted about a month or two ago, in training in South Carolina as I recall, that had a "discipline problem" just before being shipped out to Da Raq? They wound up being confined, not just to base, but locked down so tight they couldn't go outside for a cigarette.

The problem's getting around:

(via Jackson MS Clarion-Ledger)

Mississippi National Guard troops training at Camp Shelby for overseas deployment are calling on state leaders to intervene after the soldiers were restricted to the base.

The Tupelo-based 155th Separate Armored Brigade is asking Gov. Haley Barbour and Sen. Trent Lott to look into the matter. The troops speculate their lockdown resulted from a series of recent off-base traffic accidents involving unit soldiers.

Because the 3,000 soldiers in the 155th Separate Armored Brigade are unable to leave for any reason, their morale has plummeted to what one soldier called "the lowest it has ever been."

Currently, about 9,000 soldiers are training at the base, including the 278th Regimental Combat Team, based in Knoxville, Tenn., and various other troops assigned to help with the mobilization.

But members of the 155th Separate Armored Brigade said they're the only ones to be placed on lockdown — something the Mississippians say is unfair treatment.

Sgt. First Class Kevin Reeves, spokesman for the 155th, would not comment Wednesday about the allegations, saying Army officers were in California and could not be reached.

Capt. David Yates sent a letter to Lott's office Tuesday and said he plans to send a letter to Barbour requesting an investigation.

"The entire brigade ... is being punished in an arbitrary and capricious manner," Yates said in the letter to Lott. "As a successful commissioned officer, I cannot condone such action."

A commissioned officer standing up for enlisted men, in writing no less, is somewhat rare. I know of a case from the Civil War but can't think of a lot since. One would venture to guess that Capt. Yates' career is effectively over. But to continue...

Scott Woods, a retired Colonel and a former commander of the 155th, said ... it is not unusual to keep soldiers from going on leave as a deployment nears.

"You would have to get people focused, and a lockdown can keep everyone there," Woods said.

The members of the 155th may serve up to a year in the Middle East.