Tough Call

[Keiko]

I have perplexed feelings about this. Having served, she made a commitment and took an Oath to the the Military. On the other hand she is a single parent and has a responsibility to her child as well. How do you call it?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_...mom_deployment

[leroyjr1]

Home comes first for me. That's ridiculous that she would have to put her child in foster care.

[ben62670]

I say ship the woman out. I know it sounds harsh, but if she gets out being deployed then how many women would get knocked up to stay home. I know I sound harsh, but if you sign up you have signed a contract with this country.
Yes this is a crappy situation,and I feel for her.

Ben the evil mean guy.

[shadowofnight]

I say ship the woman out. I know it sounds harsh, but if she gets out being deployed then how many women would get knocked up to stay home. I know I sound harsh, but if you sign up you have signed a contract with this country.
Yes this is a crappy situation,and I feel for her.

Ben the evil mean guy.

+1....nothing evil about it...she joined the Army in 07...the country was already waist deep in deployments and she knew it going in...kid is only 10 months old...ship her out.

[ben62670]

BTW there is this thing called birth control;) Slap her and send her out

[Keiko]

After thinking about this, and if I were her Commanding Officer I'd give her the options.

1) Remain in active service knowing you're going to be deployed and make immediate arrangements to put the child in some sort of assisted care program, if necessary.

2) Hardship Discharge from active service.

There is also an option to keep her in Garrison. Active duty within the States. Or if Uncle Sam wanted to be a prick, they could bring her up on charges.

I can somewhat sympathize with the woman not wanting to leave her kid in the care of foster parents. Some of us may have done the same thing she has done and declined to show up for deployment. If left up too me, I might opt keeping her in Garrison, depending on her service record, or give her the ultimatum. Sorry, I'm not a prick. At least not in this case. :p

[obieone]

I saw a lot of this in the navy, back in the 90's, so it's basically a 'lesser of 2 evils':

Would you rather see her skate on the public dime, while serving her country, even in an undeployable billet, OR...
See her skate on the public dime, by sitting in public housing, and not doing anything?

[treitz3]

An oath is an oath, period.

[steveinaz]

She rolled the dice and lost. I saw this alot in the Army. She needs to either deploy or be chaptered out under a "General" discharge (as opposed to an Honorable discharge). Letting her have her way should not be an option. If she was paid any sort of enlistment bonus, etc, she should be forced to pay it back.

[apphd]

If I read the story right,

"Hughes said she returned Kamani to his mother in Georgia a few days before her scheduled deployment Nov. 5."
Imagine that

"Hutchinson's son, Kamani, was placed into custody overnight with a daycare provider on the Army post after she was arrested and jailed briefly, Larson said. Hutchinson's mother picked up the child a week ago and took him back to her home in California."
So if given the choice between on base daycare or the grandmother dealing with it, somehow now grandma can handle it.

"Hughes said she's already having to care for her ailing mother and sister, as well as a daughter with special needs. She also runs a daycare center at her home, keeping about 14 children during the day."

Get rid of some of the 14 kids. Sure loss of income, but the daughter won't be spending much of her pay while deployed.

While I agree home comes first, with what we have to go on, too many things just look like a scam to me.
So many others have said it all already:
"An oath is an oath, period."
"....nothing evil about it...she joined the Army in 07...the country was already waist deep in deployments and she knew it going in...kid is only 10 months old...ship her out."
This is not a first, so many active and reservists are willing to serve and get the benefits when it's easy, but add some risks or personal hardship and they start crying. Get over it, every man and woman that has served has gone through their own personal fears and hardships. That's why vets deserve so much respect. Letting her slide, would be a slap in the face to all who have put a uniform on before her or are currently in uniform. If after the investigation finds she has true hardships that can not be overcome, then she stays state side and serves. Simple.

[shack]

I wonder how many of YOUR mothers would have left YOU given that set of circumstances. Before all of you GUYS step up to the plate to say what you would do...maybe you want to ask you mother or wife what she would do. The mother/child bond is (should be) greater than any other bond...including the oath to your nation IMO.

One of the greatest tragedies in today's society is the failure of parents (men and women) to take care and responsibility of their children. Just look at the saga of the woman (she does not deserve the term mother) in NC who apparently sold her child.

[nooshinjohn]

Pregnacy was used all to often as a reason to get out of the service when I was in the Marine Corps. She could have and most certainly WOULD have received a deferment from deployment or an Honorable discharge for "welfare" purposes if she requested it. Instead she chose a route that created headlines around the world by making the Army look bad and America appear to be the "Evil Satan" our enemies believe us to be. If, when the facts are fully known, she chose to violate her orders by pulling this stunt, she should go to Leavenworth for desertion.

If she really had no other options, a BCD and a trip home are good enough for me.

[bobman1235]

Shack nailed it, IMO.

[ryanjoachim]

Children come before ANYTHING else...Period.

[beardog03]

She`ll get an "other than" and be booted back to Oakland

Sheez...Oakland...what a place to raise a kid

It won`t have a chance to amount to anything in Oakland


she needs to do the right thing.....get temp arrngements for the kid, and go do her job like she swore she would

she is just trying to get out of going, IMO

[apphd]

I wonder how many of YOUR mothers would have left YOU given that set of circumstances. Before all of you GUYS step up to the plate to say what you would do...maybe you want to ask you mother or wife what she would do. The mother/child bond is (should be) greater than any other bond...including the oath to your nation IMO.

One of the greatest tragedies in today's society is the failure of parents (men and women) to take care and responsibility of their children. Just look at the saga of the woman (she does not deserve the term mother) in NC who apparently sold her child.

While I think all agree with what you are saying in a general manner, and the U.S. armed forces do as well, with what we have to go on, something smells fishy. If it is nothing more than an attempt to shirk her duties, then the soft heart we all have hardens up a little. And I do think most that have commented will agree that this one story is far from all the facts really needed to make a call.

[sucks2beme]

I wonder how many of YOUR mothers would have left YOU given that set of circumstances. Before all of you GUYS step up to the plate to say what you would do...maybe you want to ask you mother or wife what she would do. The mother/child bond is (should be) greater than any other bond...including the oath to your nation IMO.

One of the greatest tragedies in today's society is the failure of parents (men and women) to take care and responsibility of their children. Just look at the saga of the woman (she does not deserve the term mother) in NC who apparently sold her child.

Why would a single soldier have a baby?
That right their is a problem. It's not like they wouldn't give her the pill
if she had asked for it. Sorry, your *ss belongs to Uncle Sam when you enlist.
If they tell you to deploy, YOU DEPLOY. If you can't, expect trouble.
They aren't running a charity. And having children on their nickel isn't
part of the deal. Remember when soldiers needed their commanding officer's
permission to marry?
The real problem here is she set up herself to fail, and made it the army's problem. Charge her, discharge her, and move on.

[steveinaz]

You go into the military understanding the risks. While I agree that family comes first, she still screwed up by not honoring her oath. If you can't take the heat, stay the hell out of the kitchen. I don't think she should face any criminal charges, but she should be chaptered out, and possibly have non-punitive measures taken such as a Field Grade Article 15 for being AWOL.

I don't know if the Army does this anymore, but when I was in, female soldiers that became pregnant were offered a medical discharge (Honorable conditions) if they wanted to exercise that avenue. I think this is the best approach.

Hey, this is the way women wanted it, either "woman-up" or stay out of the military. Nobody said it was going to be easy or without sacrifice. I worked with many female soldiers during my career, and they all managed to take care of family business during deployments. Every soldier with dependants is required to have a family action plan on file with their unit in case of emergency deployments. It contains wills, powers of attorney, and detailed instructions on what happens with your spouse/children.

Again, I'm not criticizing her choice, but choices come with consequences.

[shack]

As I said...IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES...

Five days before you deploy you find your child's only choice is to go to foster care. Not happening.

The grandmother tried...BUT...caring for her ailing mother and sister, as well as a daughter with special needs...on top of her livelihood (the day care) she couldn't cut it. What the hell is wrong with her?

I guess she could dump all of them and take in the child...

I give her kudos for at least trying.

The mother of the child could have easily said from the beginning that the grandmother could not take in the child. At least she tried to find someone to take care of the child. It didn't work out.

From the Army spokesman...

Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child.

But yet her superiors said she would have to put the child in foster care and go anyway after she informed them that her source of child care was no longer available. If that is true...that is just wrong. At a minimum they should have delayed her deployment until they determined if this was a genuine issue or not.

Maybe it is JUST about the mother trying to get out of deployment as many seem to think. Even so, as is so often the case, it is the child that is the LEAST of everyone’s concern...or so it seems.

I stand by my opinion. The obligation to the welfare of your child comes before your obligation to the military in circumstance such as this.

[Sherardp]

This happens all too often, single parents still have to play in the sand. If she doesn't want to play Admin Sep her with a General Discharge. A BCD would be a little harsh but that would be up to CO.

[steveinaz]

Exactly, if you are not deployable, you are useless to the military.

Shack
I'm not trying to be calus, but having intimate knowledge with the military---she knew the score. Some people want all the benefits of the military, but none of the potential down sides; shame on them. You don't get your cake and eat it too, in the Army. In the military, personal responsibility is the WATCHWORD, and stressed from day 1 in boot camp. My guess is she bull****ted her Family Action Plan to get the 1SG and CDR off her back, thinking she would never be deployed---so it wouldn't matter that it could not work. Again, shame on her.

It has NEVER been Army policy to not deploy single parents--what they do is chapter out personnel who can't produce a Family Action Plan; so, yeah, in a manner of speaking the Army doesn't deploy single parents that have no one to care for their children...because there aren't any.

[steveinaz]

If you can't sign up for the commitment, don't sign up for the pay check. Period.

[rayslifecycle]

Didn't anyone read this in the article?:

Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child.

"I don't know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it," Larson said. "If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there's no question she would not have been deployed."

So What's up with that - she didn't have to go - why would there be a problem? - did she not fill out the right form?

[steveinaz]

Read my post #21. Last paragraph.

Who is Kevin Larson? What regulation is he quoting this from? There are no references in his comments.

[shack]

Steve - I too am very familiar with the military...with several close relatives who are/were lifers. And we will just have to disagree IN THIS INSTANCE. You make several assumptions as to motives and reasons (as did I). They may or may not be acurate. I also know the Army to make stupid unecessary moves and stances on issues...just because. One of the things I said was the Army could have done a better job of handling this isuue. Now it is an issue...when it could have been avoided.

One thing is damn sure true...and I will repeat...the welfare of the child is taking a backseat here by the Army. Maybe they feel it is not their concern or problem. Well it is now.

[sucks2beme]

Didn't anyone read this in the article?:

Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child.

"I don't know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it," Larson said. "If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there's no question she would not have been deployed."

So What's up with that - she didn't have to go - why would there be a problem? - did she not fill out the right form?

Great, a politically correct Army. If you can't do the job, then get out.
The purpose of the Army,Navy, Air Force, or Marines it to go into combat,
Kill people, wipe out the ability of your enemy to resist. The rest of the time
you train so you're ready to kill people and break things. In the Corps,
everyone was a rifleman 1st, and your MOS 2nd. It's not a job at the damn mall.
WTF is wrong with America? Did we forget what war is?

[steveinaz]

There is very, very little gray area in military life, civilians don't get that.

You don't need to know the details to understand this case. The woman knew that she could be deployed, that's not an assumption that is a FACT. You state that you are aware of this FACT when you raise your right hand and swear before God to defend this country. She should have either asked for a chapter based on hardship after the child was born, or had a plan for her son if she wished to stay in.

Now, I agree that they shouldn't be taking criminal charges up on her, that's a little over-the-top in my opinion, but is a avenue in accordance with the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), so it is their porogative.

[Tony M]

I'm agreeing with suckstobeme 100%x100

[steveinaz]

The military moves as a TEAM. To maintain this cohesiveness, you have to be consistent and fair across the board, or morale suffers. There is no looking the other way because "well geez, she's a mom." How would this affect the morale of tens of thousands of Army moms who DO make it happen? Who do plan? Who made the necessary arrangements? It does a disservice to their personal commitment.

I would imagine that Army active duty Moms are pretty damn pissed off at this woman, but what the hell do I know?

[treitz3]

There is no "I' in team. God forbid one or more of the members of her squadron gets killed because the job she was trained to do was unattended while waiting for a replacement.

I have no mercy and a zero tolerance for excuses when it comes to the military. None.

Where do you think the kid would go if she had been killed in action? One of the same two places the kid ended up going.