Courage To Resist: Army Sends Infant To Protective Services, Mom To Afghanistan

[Hissyspit]

http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/789/1

Army sends infant to protective services, mom to Afghanistan this weekend

Army has mom, Alexis Hutchinson, arrested and 11-month old son put into county foster care system. Alexis has now been ordered to deploy to Afghanistan on Sunday, November 15, where she will be court martialed.

Action Alert: Contact Congresswoman Barbara Lee to urge her to "Request that the Army not deploy Alexis Hutchinson to Afghanistan so that she can care for her son." From the 9th District (Oakland-Berkeley, CA) phone: [phone] (fax: [phone]). Nationwide: 202- 225-2661 (fax: [phone]).

Donate to Alexis' legal and family support fund (couragetoresist.org/alexis)

Alexis' attorney now available for media interviews.
By friends of Alexis and Courage to Resist. November 12, 2009

Specialist Alexis Hutchinson of Oakland, CA is the single mother of an 11-month old boy, Kamani. Currently she is confined to Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, Georgia, where she has been posted since February 2008, and threatened with a court martial if she does not agree to be deployed to Afghanistan, even though she has not found anyone to take care of her child while she is away.

In anticipation of going overseas Specialist Hutchinson flew to California and left her son with her mother Angelique Hughes of Oakland, as per her Army family care plan. However, after a week of caring for the child Specialist Hutchinson’s mother realized that she was unable to take care of Kamani on top of her other duties to her special-needs daughter, her ailing mother, and her ailing sister. In late October Angelique Hughes informed Hutchinson and her commander, Captain Gassant, that she was not able to care for her daughter's baby after all. The Army gave Specialist Hutchinson an extension of time to find someone else to care for her son, and in the meantime her mother brought Kamani back to Georgia. However just a few days before Specialist Hutchinson was scheduled to deploy she was told that she would not get the extended time after all and would have to deploy, even though there was no one to care for her child.

Faced with that choice Specialist Hutchinson did not show up for her plane. The military had her arrested and they put her child in the county foster care system. Currently, Specialist Hutchinson is scheduled to fly to Afghanistan for a special court martial on Sunday and is facing up to one year in jail. Her mother flew to Georgia and retrieved the baby but is overwhelmed, and does not feel able to provide long-term care for Kamani.

Specialist Hutchinson would like to have more time to find someone to care for her infant. However, she does not have a lot of family or friends who could do so. She says: “It is outrageous that they would deploy a single mother without a complete and current family care plan. I would like to find someone I trust who can take care of my son, but I cannot force my family to do this. They are dealing with their own health issues.”

MORE AT LINK

[bigtree]

1. no words

[atreides1]

4. Wait for it

The warmongers among us will soon be crucifying this woman for refusing to fulfill her military obligation!!

[Fire1]

9. Not really. But these folks must know when they sign on the

dotted line, their lives are no longer their own. They are government property.

[MattBaggins]

14. Not true at all

The Military as ample room for leniency. They could have a found a multitude of excuses to allow her to stay state side.

This is stupid.

[Fire1]

35. That's not what I've been told by former military personnel. n/t

[dotymed]

58. Then you haven't

talked to one who has asked the Red Cross for help. The R.C.
(used to) routinely help service people who were in impossible
circumstances. Being a mother is much more important than
fighting the U.S. funded Taliban. Yep, we pay them to fight
us. Look at democracy.org    Just like Orwell predicted, we
must have a continuous war to distract Americans away from the
real enemy.

[Fire1]

68. The real enemy is US! And since being a mother is more

important than fighting the Taliban, I can't help but wonder why a mother would enlist and not expect to fight. Maybe she wasn't a "mother" when she enlisted but was that not a possibility?

[bobbolink]

84. You really wonder?

Really?

You can't figure that out at all?

[Fire1]

88. I've figured out that she was pregnant nine (approx) of the

eleven months she's been in Georgia and in all that time, had to have known that her mother was care taker for three other relatives. Now, call me crazy, but no matter how good her mother's intentions were, common sense would have told me that the chances of her mother being able to properly care for an 11 month old infant, would be slim to none. Being a single parent is no joke, in and of itself. But, to be in the military (knowing the possibilities and consequences)and have no support system in place was slightly selfish and irresponsible, imo.

[bobbolink]

89. You still don't get it, do you? I guess your sense of superiority and judgment of others

keeps you warm at night.

[Fire1]

93. Just common sense and "good" judgement and not all the

time but this is a no brainer.

[bobbolink]

94. Your right about that. Your conclusion is for people

with no brains.... but mostly, no heart.

[MattBaggins]

61. I am former military

and when my unit deployed to Iraq the first time around, we found ways to leave behind the people who didn't need to go.

[Lorien]

18. Look downthread. It's already started

There are no limits to Authoritarianism here on DU.

[truedelphi]

2. Thank you HissySpit. n/t

[rocktivity]

3. Either give her a stateside desk job or give her an honorable discharge

How dare they ask a solider to leave her own child behind.

:mad:
rocktivity

[cali]

6. hear, hear.

[rocktivity]

10. Actually, this all sounds kind of familiar

Excuse me while I take a quick dip into the DU archives...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2871154


rocktivity

[barbtries]

53. i agree

there are options for chrissake. why are they tormenting this woman and her baby???

[Hello_Kitty]

66. Discharge her. But don't give her stateside duty.

It would open a floodgate of people using their kids to get out of deployments and combat duty.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. UNREAL!

:argh:

[Soylent Brice]

7. K&R

[mitchum]

8. Can her husband care for the infant?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. She has no husband. She is single. Reading comprehension???

[mitchum]

12. No reading comprehension problems, assh...uh...my friend

I was just being snarky
about a single woman who CHOSE to have a child
just as she CHOSE to join the military
and as she is trying to CHOOSE to get out of her commitment

She made a lot of choices, but without very good judgment, didn't she?

[Bette Noir]

29. How many jobs do you know of that pay full benefits

that are available to a young women with limited work experience and skills? She probably joined up out of desperation, like so many others.

[rainy]

44. She probably signed up before she had the child. Having a baby will change

you instantly. All of a sudden you can't think of anyone else taking care of that child. You would do anything to not have to leave it. I know because I have two of my own. Before my first I planned to go back to work 9 hrs a day. When she came I couldn't bare to think of leaving her at daycare all day. I pleaded with my husband to let me stay home. I stayed home with my two girls until they were in 2nd and 4th grades. It was the best. I was very lucky to be able to do that.

Having a child is a bond many wouldn't know unless they have one.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

47. Regardless of how poor her decision was,

that doesn't make it right for the Army to force her to abandon her son. The Army has no obligation to make the situation worse.

[WinkyDink]

74. I think it's the U.S. gov't that has made & is continuing to make all the bad choices.

[DearAbby]

13. K&R

[kevin.larson]

15. 3rd ID response

Specialist Alexis Hutchinson is a Soldier stationed at Hunter Army Airfield. She is not under any confinement but has been ordered to remain on the installation while the command addresses her alleged misconduct. Just days prior to her scheduled deployment, Specialist Hutchinson's commander received information that indicated that Specialist Hutchinson had engaged in misconduct. Due to the fact that Specialist Hutchinson has a small child, her deployment was delayed so that the command could ensure Specialist Hutchinson's child was cared-for and so that she could meet with legal counsel. In the meantime, Specialist Hutchinson's command had been assured that her mother is caring for her young son.

Currently, thousands of Soldiers at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield are deploying overseas. However, because of her circumstances, Specialist Hutchinson's commander is reexamining whether or not she will be able to deploy. Because her case could present a hardship to not only her child but also her extended family, Specialist Hutchinson's command has delayed her departure and will continue to work with her legal counsel.

Kevin Larson
Chief, Public Communications
Fort Stewart/3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

[jwirr]

24. Thank you for clarifying this. As you can see if you are reading

this thread most of us think that better arrangements could be made for this kind of circumstances when there is only one parent and the child is an infant. Hopefully you and your bosses will take the concerns of the citizens you serve as an indication of concern for the wellbeing of our soldiers and their families.

My niece was a marine when she became pregnant - she got an honorable discharge and is now acting as support for spouses and families of those from Fort Hood who have been deployed. I would hope this other family would receive the same respect for her services.

[Hissyspit]

38. Is it clarified?

There is much more discussion in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4145968&mesg_id=4145968

[condoleeza]

16. At some point I just really wonder WTF these nimrods are thinking

and I'm not talking about the military, as anyone with a fucking brain knows they have no soul and couldn't care less who dies in their endless quest for power and money.

So, I'm sorry that "Specialist Hutchinson would like to have more time to find someone to care for her infant" but she was in the military already when she decided to become a single mother and what the hell did she think would happen to this child??????????????????????? Jesus Christ!!! Get a fucking brain. She has a mom who is overwhelmed already and IMO didn't do a good job as a mother or her daughter never would have joined the military in the first place.

I have empathy for the baby, but this is an example of everything that is wrong with this country. You just don't do shit w/the idea that "society" cares and will take care of you if you have a brain and care about those who are dependent on you. And before you brand me as having no soul, I have been politically active as a Democrat for over 40 years. I am a Vietnam widow, I have been through a lot. I NEVER would have had a kid w/o a partner to help raise it and I was pre- roe-v-wade. Having been raised poor white trash I found a way out and my kids are not "part of the problem" in this country.

This is a sad story, but...there is a limit to my patience with idiots.

[Lorien]

17. Um, do you know that the planned her pregnancy? Do you realize that there

are military jobs here in the US that they could have her do instead? Do you realize that many Americans sign up because they are DESPERATE for a paycheck of ANY kind?

[haele]

41. Hyde Amendment. Spec Hutchinson could not get an abortion if she wanted one

unless she could go to a clinic that could have required a couple days off work to go through all the roadblocks some states put on abortion services, instead of going to the base clinic on a Friday and being back to work, albeit a bit sick still, on Monday.
Or perhaps she was serving with a bunch of wingnuts who would have harassed her even more for having an abortion than they would for her going through with the pregnancy.

She tried to have someone she trusted - her mother, who was already a full-time caretaker - but her mother found out too late that she couldn't take care of a baby as well as a disabled adult.
Oh, well, so sorry, she tried to do what was right, even if she apparently didn't have the judgment not to get pregnant or to ensure there was sufficient birth control (sarcasm, here, folks), but it didn't work out.

There's usually a rash of infant and toddler damage and deaths in military homes whenever a deployment happens in our sleepy Navy community; it's critical if it's not a trusted family member with established bonds to the child that is going to be the long-term caretaker that you can depend on that person. Leaving your baby with a willing spouse on base, no matter how friendly or trustworthy that spouse may seem, is playing roulette; you never know how the sponsoring service member's deployment will unfold, and if something should happen to the service member, your baby will still end up in county foster care if orders have changed and the nice lady you left your baby with is now halfway across the country stationed somewhere else; and you're stuck in Afghanistan with no chance of leave for another couple months. That's happened before, single service members have lost children in the foster system due to sudden deployment.
Not to mention issues with spouses.
There have been too many situations where children are left alone at home for weeks when the parent that was left home decides they can't handle it anymore and just leave.
Most cases, a neighbor figures out somethings wrong within a few days. There have been a couple cases that ended up tragically over the years.
Newspapers don't cover problems like this on base. If the base clinic has to handle the situation, nothing to report. The only cases you hear about are the ones that made it to the local hospitals, or to the local courts.

It's always been the easy statement by a command "you don't get a spouse and kids with your seabag when you enlist"; suggesting that anything that happens to family members is strictly your responsibility. But there's also a unspoken requirement that should you knock someone up or get knocked up, you're supposed to do the right, moral action and take responsibility for the situation.
And, of course, there are no abortions available on base for either a service member or a spouse except for medical necessity, so that's out.
That's why there are still lower ranked enlisted military families living out of their cars because there's a waiting list for base housing.
Contraception doesn't always work, and people have this bad habit of living the last few weeks before their deployments as if it were their last - which often means lots of parties and lots of sex.
It's always cute seeing all the newborns when a ship comes back after an 8/9 month deployment. Unfortunately, there are not alway the resources to take care of that cute little newborn later on, when there's no base housing available and upgrading from a studio to a two-bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood is out of your price range.

This soldier is trying to find a safe, loving place for her baby that she can trust to raise that child should something happen to her. It's not as if she's pumping out kid after kid to keep from being deployed.

The military has a serious problem with single parents, and they still have not nailed down how to deal with it as a standardized process that covers the wellbeing of the child as well as the needs of the service. Instead, the base commanders are the ones who decide what happens, and too often the children end up in local foster care or left in dangerous conditions.

Haele

[Tim01]

19. If a girl gets pregnant she should be able to just leave the military. Is that it?

It sounds like a lot of people see it that way.

How about this one. Since women can get pregnant and screw up the whole system, and men can't, women are not allowed to have any jobs in the military except stateside desk jobs. Problem solved.

[Tim01]

20. Or we can just send the combat vets back into battle AGAIN to make room for her stateside.

We'll just keep sending the men back into the shit so that the moms can have their stateside jobs where the guys were supposed to finish their enlistment.
4 tours shouldn't cause any emotional problems.

[Raineyb]

26. And throwing a child into foster care in order to keep killing people overseas

AFTER you've told the mother that she could have an extension. That's completely appropriate. And tossing the child into foster care where God knows what can happen to her. That's appropriate too right?

:sarcasm:

[tblue37]

33. I have a better idea. Bring all the troops home and end these useless

wars of choie!

[winyanstaz]

46. thats the best idea of all....

Time to end this mess...bring em home now!

[ChadwickHenryWard]

49. +1 n/t

[Love Bug]

54. Wow, you sound just like the guys who used to tell me I shouldn't

be in the Navy at all because my stateside billet took one away from a male sailor who was otherwise assigned to a ship. This was over 30 years ago, too. I guess we haven't come as far as I thought.

Now just to be sure I'm clear, I'm not any happier than you are about multiple combat tours but blaming women for them isn't going to make any difference. Last time I checked, women were serving in combat, too. Besides, how do you know for sure she is taking the place of a man? It's just possible that a woman would be taking her place if she ends up not going.

[Tim01]

59. And just to be clear,

I'm not saying women shouldn't be allowed to fill any job they can perform. What I am saying is they should not have the option of quitting anytime they want to by getting pregnant.

When I was in I was threatened with legal action for wearing an ear ring, I was told my body is not mine until my time is up and I am out of the military.
I was again threatened with the same thing when I was getting myself banged up in martial arts. I was told it is the govts body and I am not allowed to make it unuseful for my job.
And the females I served with often talked about how they would just get pregnant if things were not going well for them.

[MattBaggins]

62. No one said a word about here quitting

she can serve out her TOS in any number of vital roles stateside.

[Love Bug]

69. I don't believe servicewomen have the option of quitting because of

pregnancy anymore so your point is moot. There were certain things I wasn't allowed to do to my body, either, just like you, so that point is moot as well. As for the women you served with who said they would just get pregnant anytime to get out, how many actually did so? And were they able to accomplish this all by themselves, because the last time I checked it took two to tango, so wouldn't the men involved be equally responsible and worth your wrath?

The real problem here is the men running the military have NEVER wanted women in at all. You see, we are very inconvenient. Because of us, separate quarters are necessary and such things as pregnancy have to be dealt with, all while trying to maintain readiness. What Hutchinson has done is put a face and name to the fact that sometimes women do get pregnant and some of those women just don't have anyone else to take care of their offspring. Although why the father isn't being called to task on this is a mystery to me but I'll bet he's in the service, too.

Do we, as a society, really want these children dumped on foster care? And where is the State of Georgia's interest in this? They are basically being forced to care for this child because the Army refuses to accommodate this situation. Frankly, Hutchinson should be given a hardship discharge and yes, I would feel the same if it were a man in the same situation. But nooooooo, an example must be made of her just in case others get the same idea. :sarcasm:

On edit: Ok, I did some checking online and apparently women (at least in the Army) can still request a discharge due to pregnancy. But Hutchinson didn't do that -- she decided to fulfill her obligation which still makes your point moot.

[FLDCVADem]

36. When I was in

that's exactly the way it was. When I got pregnant, I had the option of getting out right up until I gave birth. But if I chose to stay in (I did), then once my 6 weeks of maternity leave was up, I was subject to the same rules/regulations/deployments as any other airman.

[Tim01]

39. So if a femal deciedes she doesn't want to serve anymore she can just get pregnant and leave.

That seems like a huge waste of resources to me. Maybe mandatory norplant.

I knew a couple of guys who were trying to get out. They spent a lot of time in jail.

[MattBaggins]

63. Yes absolutley

any man could pretend to be gay, insane, disruptive. There are a number of ways to get out of serving and end your enlistment. Sometimes there are people who abuse the system and you have to accept it and carry on. Their influence on other people is minuscule and it is stupid to make a big production about it mistakenly thinking you are creating some kind of "no mas" teachable moment.

If someone wants out of the military let them go. Trying to punish them or rehabilitate them is a waste of time and resources, It accomplishes nothing and someone who really is unhappy just brings down the entire units morale.

[WinkyDink]

76. Are you trying to say that bearing a child, a life-long commitment, is GOLD-BRICKING??

[haele]

43. Nope, that went by the wayside about the time I enlisted, 1977...

Some commands still required discharge or transfer as part of their "readiness plan", but there was no requirement to get out if you got pregnant.
When women were beginning to serve on ships (at that same time), the only cavet of pregnancy was being pulled from deployment at around month 5 or 6, but you were still expected to return to deployment after your first 10 months to year after the birth. When I transferred to a shore command after my first ship tour, I worked with a sailor on her fifth pregnancy after service school. She admitted that she was just waiting out her second enlistment to get out, get married to her E-6 (First Class P.O.) boyfriend, and get a good job on the outside with her schooling and 10 years military experiance. She was perfectly willing to do the work the Navy spent a year and a half to train her to do (in fact, she did it very well), she was just determined that she'd not get assigned to a ship or get deployed out of the locale, because San Diego was where she wanted to raise her family.

Personally, I thought (and still think) it was skeevy what she was doing, using pregnancy to get out of a distasteful situation. But it was legal then; and for those who would fly up in arms about someone doing that, it was quite a bit less legal now. By baby #2, if she wasn't married, she'd be asked not to re-enlist and would have an otherwise curtailed career.

Haele

[rainy]

45. Better yet just let only women rule the world and there would be no wars...

[wolfgangmo]

70. Let's take away their right to vote too.

.

[WinkyDink]

75. How about this: Since men can get "stressed" and shoot scores of their comrades, MEN ought

not be allowed in the military?

[TwilightGardener]

21. Lots of military families shuffle their entire lives around to

prepare for deployments. Lots of moms and dads out of the country and missing their kids, worrying about them--and lots of non-custodial parents, step-parents, grandmas, aunts and uncles, etc. stepping up to the plate. This woman isn't special--just woefully unprepared, and her child will bear the brunt of her poor decisions. You really shouldn't be a single parent in the military when you have no RELIABLE child care. Having children doesn't get you out of deployments.

[rocktivity]

22. Why not just give them non-combat or non-deployment jobs?

Better yet, why can't the military set up a reliable child care system? Foster care is for children who have NO ONE. This child does have someone--casting children into a network of strangers so their parents can be sent to war is just plain barbaric. And if she doesn't make it back?


rocktivity

[Hello_Kitty]

67. Yeah, let the people without kids be the cannon fodder!

Just when I thought parents couldn't act any more entitled, this takes the cake.

[Raineyb]

25. The Army had agreed to give her the extension and then reneged.

(Not that that's much of a surprise as it's SOP but I digress) She is trying to get someone to care for her child meanwhile the idiots in charge have the child put in foster care so they can send her to Afghanistan to court martial her. They're doing that because they know damn well what they're doing is wrong and can hide it better over there.

There is no excusing the army on this one. They told her she had more time then did pretended they didn't. No doubt they don't like it when people don't keep their promises to them. But we're desperate for bodies to go over and kill some more people overseas so to hell with this child and her mother who dare try to find someone to care for her.

[Bette Noir]

31. It got Cheny out of military service altogether

and he had a perfectly good wife who could have stayed home with the baby.

The US has become a lot harsher and less forgiving over the last few decades, and that includes Democrats.

[onager]

32. Well, a perfectly good harpy...

n/t

[ChadwickHenryWard]

48. That was a deferment.

He wasn't already in the military, it kept him from getting drafted. More accurately, it delayed to some later date the time at which he was eligible for the draft. The draft was done away with before that time came, probably because Cheney had racked up four other deferments in the meantime.

[jwirr]

23. Only one reason that she would be court martialed over there.

Because they know what a ruckus this will cause here in the USA. It is not new that that children are placed in foster care when both parents are deployed but to not give her enough time to set this up is unconscionable.

[bobbolink]

90. She also stands a good chance of rape and battery over there.

:cry:

[shadowknows69]

27. Fighting for the right to have your kid taken away

Because all you are to the military is meat.

[Bette Noir]

28. Way to support the troops.

[Texasgal]

30. Ignorant here on military issues

but dosen't the military have an "only child" clause? Wouldn't that work for the single mother? What if she is killed?

[onager]

34. Clarify? Not aware of any "only child" clause.

Do you mean a clause letting only children out of the military, or do I misunderstand? The only policy like that I can think of is the one of discharging a service member when a sibling has been killed in action. I'm not even sure how/if that one is applicable any more.

FWIW, I'm an only child who joined the Marine Corps.

When I was in the Marines, pregnant women were discharged immediately. That happened to two friends of mine, both Marine NCOs on active duty who were married. Wife got pregnant, wife got discharged ASAP.

Another couple were both NCOs (Sergeants) when they married, then the husband went to OCS and became a commissioned officer. His wife had to be discharged because of the rules about officers "fraternizing" with enlisted personnel. I'm not sure the military still does that, either.

[Texasgal]

37. I was thinking of the

"saving private ryan" angle.

I'm not sure if it applies, just curious as to what or how that works.

[onager]

42. That's what I was thinking of...

A couple of hours after I posted - of course - I remembered the name of that policy. It's "sole survivor."

Yes, pretty much the same as depicted in "Saving Pvt. Ryan."

And apparently it is still in effect:

A sole surviving son or daughter is a service member who is the only surviving son or daughter in a family where the father, or mother, or one or more sons or one or more daughters, served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and as a direct result of the hazards of duty in the Service, the father, or mother, or one or more sons or daughters:

•Was killed, or

•Died as a result of wounds, accident or disease, or

•Is in a captured or missing-in-action status, or

•Is permanently 100 percent physically disabled (including 100 percent mental disability), as determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs or one of the Military Services, and is not gainfully employed, because of that disability. In the Marine Corps, the veteran must also be "continually hospitalized."

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/deploymentsconflicts/a/solesurviving_2.htm

[NNN0LHI]

40. This may be a silly question but where is the father?

Kids got to have one. Whats he have to say about this?

Don

[Taitertots]

50. Where is the Father?

I'll bet not on the birth certificate.

[Warren DeMontague]

51. Ugh. What a wrenching story.

Yes. Just discharge her and let her be with the kid.

[Taitertots]

52. Courage To Resist?

More like cowardice and lack of integrity. Joining the military and trying to run away when asked to actually step up and perform your duties isn't courage, it is cowardice.

If you are unwilling to take the steps required by signing up for the military than you shouldn't be there. Those include finding care for your children, which she was given ample time originally. Also this should have been considered as a precondition to joining the military, not as a last second ploy to avoid service.

[LisaL]

55. She didn't have children when she joined.

[Taitertots]

56. Then she should have fulfilled her duties

and found someone to care for her child. I'm sure she had no problem taking from the military for X, Y, and Z all the way up to the point that they expected something from her.

I'm must just be old school, when people make commitments they are expected to honor them.

[wolfgangmo]

71. I agree - he was asking for trouble.

Those;

idiots who signed fraudulent mortgages - they should just pay them
legal immigrants - no health care for them - they knew what they were getting into
retirees who lost all thier money to the Banksters - serves 'em right for trusting a bank


Got any more whoppers to tell?

[Taitertots]

87. Yeah, I have nothing worth saying so I'm going to make

a bunch of failed analogies. It is much better than actually coming up with something of substance on the topic to discuss.

[Rozlee]

80. I raised my hand to pledge to fight for my country. Not to fight for Exxon !

It's a shame that you only realize until it's too late, if you ever realize it at all, that in all wars, it is poor men that fight the rich men's wars. I remember how as a Hispanic teen, from a rusty dusty Texas town where as my politically incorrect nephew once said, "even the wetbacks are rednecks", military recruiters descended on us like locusts. They even lured the boys in with promises of sex. German girls, Oriental girls, Turkish girls, etc. My poor cousin! His Air Force recruiters talked him into accepting an assignment to Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota. He asked them, "Are there a lot of girls there?" They nudged him and told him that there were fifty girls behind every tree. He wrote me and told me mournfully that it was a flat praire and that there were so few trees there, that no one dared go AWOL because they'd be able to see you on the horizon for three days. Then, we invade a country that never harmed us so that a corrupt regime could plunder their most valuable resource and enrich their most generous contributors. Now, in Afghanistan, we might be propping up another corrupt regime in the name of some pipeline to the Caspian Sea and for the sake of even more contracts to fat cats. If the government breaks it's contract to it's military people, then I see nothing wrong in them telling the military to fuck off.

[ShamelessHussy]

92. if she broke the rules, she can be discharged, you don't punish the innocent child, too

or do you?

[SoCalDem]

72. Before the volunteer military, there was always a steady stream of new men coming into service

and until a certain rank was reached, they had to get permission to even marry.

A military may "take care of" its military families, but that has never been its prime raison d'être. The military was about readiness at a moment's notice. they wanted as many unencumbered people in the ranks as possible. they knew they had to make allowances for the "lifers" who would end up married with families, but for the "underlings" with low year-counts, they wanted the unmarried males.

Perhaps this was to make them bold, rather than fearful of leaving a widow & fatherless children, or maybe the military just did not want the extra expense ..

Times have changed and the volunteer military combined with a shitty economy has now attracted a whole lot of single parents (usually Moms), and poor young couples with children and no real way to support them, so the military looks like a great way to get medical, dental, travel and a steady income....until.... well , you know...deployment...war...possible death in action. Those things tend to focus people on what is really important to them, and suddenly that security is no longer the main issue.

Thre are two things at odds here. The military often lies to and glosses over things when recruiting these young folks, and the young recruits themselves often shut out the negatives when they join up. Many see the carrots, and forget about the stick, until they are about to be whacked with that stick.

Militaries cannot just "let people go" when things get difficult for them or their families.. This is not college, where you can just drop out when you start having problems.

The military is not a social service organization.

[chrisa]

77. I wish nobody would sign up for the military.

But in the mean time, refusing to serve is the bravest thing anybody could do.

[Taitertots]

86. I wish I could poop soft ball sized diamonds

Both would have unintended consequences we are not willing to accept.

[Hissyspit]

83. Courage To Resist is the organization.

They have stood up for and represented vets who have resisted illegal orders, been conscientious objecters, and insiated on their legal rights. Joining the military is not a hard and fast 'turn over your integrity and civil rights so that we have cannon fodder' matter, all clear-cut and black and white as you would have it.

[winyanstaz]

57. That is bloody cold hearted of the military...

It is tramatic enough for a child and especially one that young to be removed from their primary care-giver. It can scar them very badly. To then put that baby in with strangers is even worse.
I think this is child abuse..and bullshit
The military could EASILY just give her another extension to find someone to care for the baby.

[Cyrano69]

60. OK, I can explain this....

When you are in a job that is subject to deployment, it is YOUR responsibility to recognize that you could be deployed at a moments notice.

You have to have a family care plan rehearsed and in place.

You have to have your deployment bag packed and ready to go.

You have to have a power of attorney signed and filed with whomever you designate.

I was an IDMT, Independent Duty Medical Tech, subject to deployment at any time. I had all of that done because it was a condition of my job. I had a friend on base that took my son to my mother's house in NH, even though I was stationed in CA. That was my plan, and it worked flawlessly.

This young woman apparently did not have these things in place and ready to go, and the military is simply following it's protocol, she has disobeyed orders and apparently from the article is continuing to disobey orders. If she does, they will court martial her.

Hope this helps everyone understand how this can come about.

[IsItJustMe]

64. I understand what you are saying. The problem here is that shit happens and plans can absolutely

fall apart, right before your eyes. I am glad that your plan worked. But that is not always the case.

It seems like there would be some type of discretion and leniency on the militarys behalf here. But then again, I can see the other side of that coin.

I hope they can give her some more time to figure things out. It's a sad situation. She seems to be between a rock and a hard place, trying to get something done, and the military as usual, is just following orders and protocol.

[Cyrano69]

79. You are right and...

usually they do. If something happened and your plan could not work due to unforeseen circumstances, they will usually give you time to make other arrangements. The only time I have seen this happen was when an airman did not make a plan, thinking that he wouldn't get deployed if he had a kid. He was wrong.

[defendandprotect]

65. k i c k

[WinkyDink]

73. More evidence of our evil. No, I'm not being sarcastic.

[chrisa]

78. Which is why I believe the military should have its budget slashed.

Think about the money saved, and how much better off the world would be if the money spent was diverted elsewhere.

[WolverineDG]

81. So where's daddy?

Anyone know where the kid's dad is? Cuz unless he's an abusive asshole, dead, or deployed himself, there's no reason why he shouldn't be taking care of his son.

dg

[McCamy Taylor]

82. Sick! Truly sick. How about creating a special military foster family program

in which kids whose parents are being deployed live with stateside military families?

To dump a child like that on local CPS and expect the state to take care of it is despicable. If the Army wants to hire moms and dads of young kids, then the Army should pay for their care.

Sounds like a way to persecute women in the military to me.

[Stinky The Clown]

85. Fuck this (these) wars

We are there, why?

This mom will be in prison, why?

Thanks, george

on edit: oops. george is gone. Hmmmmmm .......

[HughMoran]

91. Now here is someone I wouldn't blame if they flipped out

Sometimes these people need to find that ounce of common sense they flushed down the toilet.