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Several soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company could not defend themselves or their comrades March 23 because their weapons malfunctioned while they sustained a lengthy fire attack by Iraqis near Nasiriyah, Iraq, according to a U.S. Army report on the ambush.

The weapons that jammed or otherwise failed included a M-249 machine gun called a SAW (squad automatic weapon), a .50 caliber machine gun, as well as several M-16 rifles. The M-16 is the Army's standard issue weapon.

The report is not conclusive about why up to three different kinds of weapons failed and suggests that the "malfunctions may have resulted from inadequate individual maintenance in a desert environment."

Pentagon and Fort Bliss officials declined to comment Wednesday on any aspects of the report until it is released to the public today or Friday. Nine members of the 507th died, four were wounded and another six were captured in the ambush.

Amalia Estrella, mother of Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, said that although she was told June 27 about her son's death, she and her husband are not satisfied with what they were told.

"I can accept a human error because they are human; it's the desert and it's difficult. But where was the combat support?" she asked. "They took a long time to bring my son's body to me because he was supposedly shot in the head and a piece of his head was missing. They asked me to sign a paper that said I would accept my son without this body part. Now, they are telling me that when he was trying to escape from the (ambush) his vehicle struck an Iraqi tank and it was the impact that killed him, and not a gunshot."

The military report does not address whether the ammunition was sufficient for the attack that lasted 60 to 90 minutes, or whether any of the weapons had been listed as unusable previously because they had not been working properly.

Some of the Fort Bliss soldiers who experienced problems with their weapons include Cpl. Damien Luten, Spc. Joseph Hudson, Sgt. James Riley and Spc. James Grubb. A convoy that included 507th commander Capt. Troy King and other soldiers "returned fire while moving," and without specifying which soldiers and what weapons were involved, the report said "most of the soldiers in this (other) group report that they (too) experienced weapons malfunctions."

The report said Luten "attempted to return fire with the 507th's only .50 cal. machine gun, but the weapon failed." Another part of the report said "Spc. Grubb returned fire with his M-16 until wounded in both arms, despite reported jamming of his weapon" and Riley tried getting a slain 507th soldier's M-16 "since his own rifle had malfunctioned." Hudson, who was driving one of the vehicles during the attack, tried to fire his M-249 "but it malfunctioned," the report said.

Among the first to return fire were Pfc. Edward Anguiano and Sgt. George Buggs of the 3rd Forward Support Battalion, who were attached to the 507th convoy. They fired their M-249 from the rear of the Humvee they were in, but later died. Other weapons issued to the unit members were the M-9 (9 mm pistol), which is usually given to officers and senior enlisted soldiers, and the MK-19 (40 mm grenade machine gun).

Before the convoy's departure from Camp Virginia, Kuwait, "the soldiers were issued a basic combat load of ammunition for their personal weapons" (210 rounds for the M-16, 1,000 rounds for the M-249 and 45 rounds for the M-9). They were also issued ammunition for the .50 caliber machine gun and the MK-19 grenade machine gun, "however, all pyrotechnics, hand grenades, and AT-4 anti-tank weapons were consolidated and secured (locked away)," the report said.

While at Camp Virginia, the 507th had training and preparations for ambush procedures, rules of engagement (the legal rules for when and how you fight an enemy) and weapons maintenance, the report said. Although the soldiers "observed armed civilians and what appeared to be armed Iraqi soldiers at the two checkpoints ... (and) the Iraqi soldiers at the checkpoint waved to the convoy," the 507th members were prevented from firing their weapons at them unless they detected a hostile intent.

The report said the supply convoy received small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire from all sides. Several soldiers were killed or injured as a result of gunfire or because of wrecks during the ambush.