Vivian Campbell
02-07-2005, 07:22 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/211-iraq_mud.JPG http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/913-iraq_mud2.JPG
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/278577p-238671c.html
Widow won't sling
mud at Bucca G.I.s
BY BRIAN KATES
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
"Just because a few individuals did not behave honorably that is not reason to lose faith in the soldiers at Camp Bucca."
So said the wife of the FDNY 9/11 hero for whom the U.S. Army prison in Iraq is named after seeing photos in yesterday's Daily News of a wild, mud-wrestling sexcapade there last October.
Eve Bucca told the News her family has "complete confidence" in the soldiers at the camp - named in honor of her husband, Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca, an Army reservist who was killed at the World Trade Center.
The News reported the debauchery at Camp Bucca after receiving more than 30 photos of female G.I.s stripped to their undies and cavorting in a mud-filled pool as their male comrades in arms cheered them on.
The incident allegedly was organized by sergeants, and involved men and women assigned to guard Iraqi detainees transferred there from notorious Abu Ghraib prison, according to an Army report obtained by The News.
Investigators quoted a witness who said that sergeants involved also were lending their rooms to male and female soldiers for sex parties.
But, said Eve Bucca, "We are still very proud of the camp and of the men and women who serve there."
Military brass acknowledged that the wild scene represented a serious breakdown of military discipline.
An initial report by investigators in Iraq notes that sergeants from the 160th Military Police Battalion allegedly organized the mud-wrestling bout. It quotes a witness who said senior noncommissioned officers were present and appeared "noticeably drunk."
Col. Isadore Rommes, commander of the 160th, told The News the reported behavior of his troops in the free-for-all was "not acceptable" and "could result in [nonjudicial] Article 15 punishment or courts-martial."
Yet three months after the episode, no officers or sergeants from his unit have been disciplined, Rommes conceded.
He said he did not learn of the incident until December, about a month after the Army Reserves unit returned to its base in Tallahassee, Fla.
Although the initial inquiry identifies alleged participants by name, Rommes said a commander's inquiry will not be completed for "the next couple of months" because unit members have returned to civilian life.
Rommes said the incident happened the day before the 160th left Camp Bucca to return to the U.S.
"We ran the internment facility at Camp Bucca, and our unit is as good as any battalion level unit in the active Army component," Rommes said.
The unit was replaced by the 105th Military Police Battalion, a National Guard unit from Asheville, N.C.
One female soldier from the 105th who participated in the mud-wrestling bout and was photographed flashing her breasts at ogling male G.I.s was reduced in rank to private first class. She is still serving at Camp Bucca.
Rommes said there was no evidence that alcohol was involved. He also said he did not believe the incident could have happened within sight or earshot of Iraqi detainees, who, he said, were confined about one-third of a mile away.
The mud-wrestling melee represented "an isolated incident," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, an Army spokesman in Baghdad. "I have been in Iraq since May and nothing else of that nature has occurred at Bucca in that time."
Originally published on February 7, 2005
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/278577p-238671c.html
Widow won't sling
mud at Bucca G.I.s
BY BRIAN KATES
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
"Just because a few individuals did not behave honorably that is not reason to lose faith in the soldiers at Camp Bucca."
So said the wife of the FDNY 9/11 hero for whom the U.S. Army prison in Iraq is named after seeing photos in yesterday's Daily News of a wild, mud-wrestling sexcapade there last October.
Eve Bucca told the News her family has "complete confidence" in the soldiers at the camp - named in honor of her husband, Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca, an Army reservist who was killed at the World Trade Center.
The News reported the debauchery at Camp Bucca after receiving more than 30 photos of female G.I.s stripped to their undies and cavorting in a mud-filled pool as their male comrades in arms cheered them on.
The incident allegedly was organized by sergeants, and involved men and women assigned to guard Iraqi detainees transferred there from notorious Abu Ghraib prison, according to an Army report obtained by The News.
Investigators quoted a witness who said that sergeants involved also were lending their rooms to male and female soldiers for sex parties.
But, said Eve Bucca, "We are still very proud of the camp and of the men and women who serve there."
Military brass acknowledged that the wild scene represented a serious breakdown of military discipline.
An initial report by investigators in Iraq notes that sergeants from the 160th Military Police Battalion allegedly organized the mud-wrestling bout. It quotes a witness who said senior noncommissioned officers were present and appeared "noticeably drunk."
Col. Isadore Rommes, commander of the 160th, told The News the reported behavior of his troops in the free-for-all was "not acceptable" and "could result in [nonjudicial] Article 15 punishment or courts-martial."
Yet three months after the episode, no officers or sergeants from his unit have been disciplined, Rommes conceded.
He said he did not learn of the incident until December, about a month after the Army Reserves unit returned to its base in Tallahassee, Fla.
Although the initial inquiry identifies alleged participants by name, Rommes said a commander's inquiry will not be completed for "the next couple of months" because unit members have returned to civilian life.
Rommes said the incident happened the day before the 160th left Camp Bucca to return to the U.S.
"We ran the internment facility at Camp Bucca, and our unit is as good as any battalion level unit in the active Army component," Rommes said.
The unit was replaced by the 105th Military Police Battalion, a National Guard unit from Asheville, N.C.
One female soldier from the 105th who participated in the mud-wrestling bout and was photographed flashing her breasts at ogling male G.I.s was reduced in rank to private first class. She is still serving at Camp Bucca.
Rommes said there was no evidence that alcohol was involved. He also said he did not believe the incident could have happened within sight or earshot of Iraqi detainees, who, he said, were confined about one-third of a mile away.
The mud-wrestling melee represented "an isolated incident," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, an Army spokesman in Baghdad. "I have been in Iraq since May and nothing else of that nature has occurred at Bucca in that time."
Originally published on February 7, 2005