The Military and Single Mothers

First of all, the military should only employ people who are fit and ready to serve. Single mothers do not, in my opinion, qualify. There are sufficient and readily available methods of preventing pregnancy, if someone is dedicated enough to want to serve their country in this way. Secondly, why do we still have troops in Afghanistan? We (both the UK and the US) are not going to win that 'war'. That, however, is quite another issue!

In my opinion Alexis Hutchinson should have been discharged as soon as her son was born she being a single mother. Maybe she could have had the father keep the baby even though she was no longer in a relationship with him. I don't think that both parents should be allowed to be in a military because they both could be deployed. I don't think that single mothers should be allowed in the service either.

There is a difference between a woman who joins the military, who is married and whose husband is in the military and one of them gets killed. Then the surviving spouse, if there is no relative to look after the baby or if there is no one who was promised the baby, gets an compassionate discharge. And if there is a relative or friend who will look after the children, then both father and mother get sent overseas. But the case of a not married mother is different and especially one who had an affair while in the military and I suppose that if she already had a child and joined, the recruitment officer would ask who would look after the baby so I am assuming she got pregnant while in the military. One cannot depend on her boyfriend whom the army assumes did not love her enough to make her his wife. Nor can they depend on the boy's parents whom they assume tried to get them either to get married or get them to not see each other nor the parents of the girl who also wished that the boyfriend would go to the justice of the peace and get a license if he could not afford a big wedding. But I think the underlying thought is that you think "I am a single mother and because I will not leave my baby, I am more of a real mother then a married mother who will go off with her husband to the war and leave the baby with relatives." The married parents who have to leave their babies with relatives love them no less then the single mother who will risk jail rather then leave her baby in the hands of foster parents. Well she could have made provision that in case there were no relatives, what kind of foster parent would take care of the baby, a best friend, a neighbor, etc.

There are ways for her to get out of the military if she so wants but she has to follow the proper channels. I know a girl personally who got pregnant while in the service. I am not sure of the procedure but she did ask to get out and they did allow her a discharge.

Hai charblaize!As you have stated she should have anticipated this depart away overseas.She have to abide by the rules of the military and her request will not be considered by the stiff uniforms.Anyhow,we can't rule out her wish to be near his kid.Only thing left for us is to pray for her.May god show her a good path.Cheers!

Dont blame her, i know she knew it but it just accidentally happens that she got pregnant. No one wants to be pregnant in the wrong time.

There is probably more to this than what we hear via the media. I wouldnt normally agree with a single Mother being sent overseas with the Military.Im not sure why she got invloved in the military in the first place. It is possible I guess, that this woman joined the Military before she had a child, thenm later married, had a child, then divorced. She may have joined the Military with the best of intentions, but circumstances change. I guess the Military has protocols for changing circumstances.

I don't know, this is a hairy situation. Yes, she knew what she was doing when she joined and had no business getting pregnant. But what about the child? If this is the one I'm thinking of, she is already caring for a niece or nephew, too, and her mom is raising some grandchildren and is overwhelmed. I really think they should not deploy her but put her on a desk locally. Then they should make it a rule--totally un-PC or course--that a woman has to have a Norplant device while she's in the service during her childbearing years. That's the only solution I can think of.

I don't know all the facts of this case but if she can not serve because she has no one to care for her child, she should be allowed to leave the Army. If she just wants to be exempted from deployment and still retain all the other benefits she has with the Army, then that's not right. You take it all or you take none. I'm the mother of two American soldiers and I certainly don't want to see them deployed anywhere but that's part of the agreement when you join the Army. You take the good with the bad. You can't change the rules to suit your lifestyle.

In my thinking the parent should have the choice,,Duty towards a child in Most important,,

I'm for the Mother and I'm glad I've just seen this......I almost enlisted the other week and I'm a single mother with a 4 year old little boy. I don't think the recruiters are telling Mothers what the possibilities/consequences are and I know for fact they didn't tell me I could be deployed, in fact, I was told right the opposite--My friends had to tell me and once I informed the recruiting sergeant that I needed to research "deployment and single mothers" he has stopped calling?? This recruiter called me for 2 months and pushed the idea of the jobs that I would have to pick from and the nice $10K sign on bonus, along with my degrees, I would start at $3,000 a month pay-- "Reserves" was pushed and implied that one would be just that and not deployed. Also, a lot of recruiters aren't well informed...I actually knew more about waivers and the process than he did? My branch was going to be Army...not sure what branch this Mother had chosen, also I think how well you score on the ASVAB depends where you are in the pile, because that score depicts what jobs you have to pick from--if you don't score well then your choices are not as many, so anyone is probably more destined for active duty. Thank you for this posting!! Amy from Durham, NC