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A while back another woman did the same thing....refused to deploy after collecting 5 years of benefits because she had a kid. Under pressure from certain advocacy groups, the Army gave her a general discharge.
Now it's happened again and the Army is going to make an example of this individual to stop this from becoming an epidemic. As they should. If they let her off too that sends a message that being a single mother is a way to get out of deployments with minimal consequences.
Okay, so far I am seeing several different exuses from the people who are against this woman. Fist off, We only know what has been reported. If anyone has anymore to the story please come forward, if not then we only have what info is available to go off of. So obviously we only have the info that is avail via the media and have to take it as we see it. When more info comes available post it.
Second, Those of you who think you have to have military experience to know whats going on or have an opinion. Your wrong, I have four generations of military men and women in my family. I have family that died serving this country in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and I have friends in the middle of a war right now. I Talk to my Dad who served his country and my friends who are serving their country. They agree with me on this subject. This woman was told she would be allowed time to find someone to watch he child. Then the Military takes it back and charges this woman with being AWOL. I am assuming none of you are single parents and are active in the military. You probably dont even have kids. If you did you would realize that you would not place your kids life in just anyones hands. You would want to know that your child would be safe and cared for as if it was you watching them.
Third, this womans actions have not set us back decades in anyway. What has set us back decades and people wanting to serve their country is being in several wars that are not our fight. People are not blind fallowers anymore. With the power of the Internet we have had our eyes opened and our minds filled with various truths and myths. Sadly it is impossible to sort most out. When it comes to our own government and military, they havent been the shinning statue that they once did. It is not about integrity anymore. Once our government and military falls in line and starts acting like it actually cares about human lives you will see an rise in people joining. Why on earth would anyone sign up right now? You know you would be going overseas and odds are you wouldnt be coming back for at least two years if ever. This does not mean they need to start up the draft again. If they did the USA would have a civil war on its hands.
The one thing most of you arent seeing is that this woman, who did sign up to serve and took an oath, did infact have a family plan that she thought to be solid. But in the final moments it fell through, she was given more time by her superiours(who probably didnt have the athority to do) and when they backed themselves into a wall with this alloted time, they had two choices...1st, take the blame and get introuble with their supervisors or charge this woman as being AWOL. I dont know about you but most people would choose the 2nd option to save their own behind. We all know our military recruiters lie to get people to sign up, and once they have you they tell you they cant do what they said they would for some reason. We all know out government and miltary lies all the time...whats to stop them? We could start holding them accountable as they do us. We could make them all sign a contract and swear an oath...wait...they do. But, when they do something that is not good for the country or is against the very oath they took and the contract(s) that they have signed...we dont hold them accountable. We need to start getting our elected officials to sign a contract stating they will do as they promise and that it isnt just a means to get out vote.
If they court matial this woman, or any other soldier that chooses not to fight for whatever reason we need to do the same. Why dont we charge our government with mass murder? or war crimes? we all know these battles we are fighting are no longer just. Maybe at one time, but not anymore. We have become the very thing we set out to stop. We have become the dictator, the corrupt leaders, the terrorists and our government is using us as its weapon. Only when we unite and say we wont stand for this unjustice anymore and actually take a stand will we gain control over our government like we are supposed to have.
Okay, I have gone on long enough...I know there are some grammatical errors but I dont care. Its all heat of the moment...so deal with it.
well guess what? you have generations of family with military service and I want to thank them. I can say the same. My family disagrees with yours: 1-she did sign an oath;; 2-she did have a plan, but think about her plan, she had an idea it would not work. 3-how can you claim to come from a military family and say it is wrong to court marshall a soldier that doesn't want to fight...?? She joined the service volunterily; we have been at war for quite a few years now, she knew what she was getting herself into..4-how can you possibly make the statements about recuits lieing, give us an example of this? I can't believe you come from a military family and hold these liberal, groundless views. I would guess those in your family that have fought do not agree with you. We have a son who was in the first Desert storm, people like you make him sick....
The Army now will separate mother and child to get bodies to deploy. IMO this is nothing short of an outrage!!!
"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."
Courage to Resist - Army sends infant to protective services, mom to Afghanistan (http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/789/1 - broken link)
(one a personal note: the response's to the topic might just tell us all what kind of country we have become. )
Gee, was she drafted?
Where's daddy? What has become of daddy, not what has become of this country, America.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Why is the Army's problem? This young woman took it upon herself to get pregnant without having the benefit of any existing structure - such as, say, a husband - to take care of her child, and now she's decided she can't fulfill her obligations to her country because of the choices she made.
Sorry, I'm as liberal as they come but she gets no sympathy from me. As someone else pointed out, young fathers face this dilemma every day. When I went on active duty I left behind a young wife and two small children, hundreds of miles from any support structure. I had no choice - I raised my hand and took an oath.
You don't get to be a soldier just as long as it's convenient for you. That's not how the system operates.
Here's an interesting question...Unfortunatly only the woman in this case could answer it. So, say she got pregnant and it was an accident, she didnt mean to get pregnant. Now, the man that should have grown a set and helped raise this child up a splits...not uncommon, the woman does not believe in abortion(I dont know this for sure but I am assuming she is) and could not do it. She learned about the military family plan and thought she could do this. So, she asked he Mother if she could be her plan. The mother agrees and said she will watch the kid. Sure she had other responsibilty, but for her daughter she thought she could do this. The woman feels confident that her mother will do it. All of a sudden, its time for her to deploy and her mother says she cant handle the load. The woman panics and tells her CO about the situation. He then tell her he will give her an extension till such and such date and that is it. So the woman begins to look for someone to watch her child. No takers...then before her time is up her CO takes back what he said and tells her she has to go. She tells him that she has not found someone to watch her kid.
You are telling me she is supposed to abandon her child so she can go fight in a war? What was she supposed to do drop the kid off on the door step of a church? Tell me what were her options after her CO took back what he said? give up the child or go to prision or have your entire life ruined. No matter how you play it out, the woman loses and the military wins. I dont care what oath you sign, if you have a child and no one to care for or provide for that child, you have a duty to that child before any other duty. A childs life comes before anything including an oath to serve your country.
Are people really this cold hearted? Wow, this country really has fallen.
She's an adult.
Perhaps if she's this irresponsible, she shouldn't breed.
She should have used birth control; she could have put the kids up for adoption or aborted.
She had choices.
This is what she chose.
What happened to personal responsibility?
well guess what? you have generations of family with military service and I want to thank them. I can say the same. My family disagrees with yours: 1-she did sign an oath;; 2-she did have a plan, but think about her plan, she had an idea it would not work. 3-how can you claim to come from a military family and say it is wrong to court marshall a soldier that doesn't want to fight...?? She joined the service volunterily; we have been at war for quite a few years now, she knew what she was getting herself into..4-how can you possibly make the statements about recruits lieing, give us an example of this? I can't believe you come from a military family and hold these liberal, groundless views. I would guess those in your family that have fought do not agree with you. We have a son who was in the first Desert storm, people like you make him sick....
Nita
I have first hand experience with a recruiter lying as does my uncle who warned me about it. I was signing up for the Air Force and wanted to get into the SERE training program or something similar. The recruiter said I would have to meet more strict physical demands in order to qualify. I worked my butt off for over two years to be in top shape for this position. When I finally reached my goal and to the standards of what the job entitled. I started all my paper work started signing a bunch of documents, reading each one twice so that I didn't sign anything I shouldn't. I got the the part about my job, pay, and bonus. until this point everything was in black ink...my job, pay, and bonus where in #2 pencil, I laughed because this was exactly the same thing they tried to pull with my uncle. I told my recruiter that I refused to sign it until it was in ink like the rest of the documents. He kept telling me to sign it and he would fix it after. I refused and walked out of the office. He chased me down and said he would fix it if I came back to his office. I went back and he got out a whole new contract. I began reading it again from start to finish(twice) this was making him really upset, he kept telling me he had other appointment and other stuff. I told him if he needed me to come back I would gladly come back the next day with my cousin who was also my lawyer and he could read over it for me. He said that wouldn't be necessary and allowed me to continue. By now I should have asked for a new recruiter but I finally read the whole contract and finally after a few more corrections I signed it. He told me when to report to the MEPS office to be sworn in and such and such. Finally the day came for me to swear in and head off to boot camp. I was so excited I could barely contain it. I had been looking forward to this since I turned 17.
But, unfortunately that same day my recruiter informed me right before taking my oath that he had misplaced some of my records and would need me to get it all filled out again before I could go. At this point I'd had enough of his bull and went and talked to his superior. His superior greeted me the way I would expect a military officer should. He then asked me if I was excited about my future as a helicopter mechanic...I turned around and walked out the door and continued to the exit of the building. Both my recruiter and his superior tried to chase me down and I just kept walking. This may just be a one time thing and doesn't happen that much but so far I have met four people that similar things have happened. If my recruiter would have told me that the job I wanted was not available I would have probably gone with another branch or picked a different job. Sadly I can no longer join the military, about a year later I got pneumonia got better and then got it again about 6 months later. This resulted in me developing COPD or asthma. I would love to join but I am unable to do so.
FYI - My family and friends who served and who are serving do support my views. My Uncle who is now retired from the USMC is a Police Chaplin he says that your duty as a parent comes before anything else. God will forgive you for abandoning your post, but he will not forgive you for abandoning you child. Think about it, choosing your career over your child is selfish, I dont care what career you have.
I am sorry, but I just dont see how anything outweighs your duty as a parent.
I have first hand experience with a recruiter lying as does my uncle who warned me about it. I was signing up for the Air Force and wanted to get into the SERE training program or something similar. The recruiter said I would have to meet more strict physical demands in order to qualify. I worked my butt off for over two years to be in top shape for this position. When I finally reached my goal and to the standards of what the job entitled. I started all my paper work started signing a bunch of documents, reading each one twice so that I didn't sign anything I shouldn't. I got the the part about my job, pay, and bonus. until this point everything was in black ink...my job, pay, and bonus where in #2 pencil, I laughed because this was exactly the same thing they tried to pull with my uncle. I told my recruiter that I refused to sign it until it was in ink like the rest of the documents. He kept telling me to sign it and he would fix it after. I refused and walked out of the office. He chased me down and said he would fix it if I came back to his office. I went back and he got out a whole new contract. I began reading it again from start to finish(twice) this was making him really upset, he kept telling me he had other appointment and other stuff. I told him if he needed me to come back I would gladly come back the next day with my cousin who was also my lawyer and he could read over it for me. He said that wouldn't be necessary and allowed me to continue. By now I should have asked for a new recruiter but I finally read the whole contract and finally after a few more corrections I signed it. He told me when to report to the MEPS office to be sworn in and such and such. Finally the day came for me to swear in and head off to boot camp. I was so excited I could barely contain it. I had been looking forward to this since I turned 17.
But, unfortunately that same day my recruiter informed me right before taking my oath that he had misplaced some of my records and would need me to get it all filled out again before I could go. At this point I'd had enough of his bull and went and talked to his superior. His superior greeted me the way I would expect a military officer should. He then asked me if I was excited about my future as a helicopter mechanic...I turned around and walked out the door and continued to the exit of the building. Both my recruiter and his superior tried to chase me down and I just kept walking. This may just be a one time thing and doesn't happen that much but so far I have met four people that similar things have happened. If my recruiter would have told me that the job I wanted was not available I would have probably gone with another branch or picked a different job. Sadly I can no longer join the military, about a year later I got pneumonia got better and then got it again about 6 months later. This resulted in me developing COPD or asthma. I would love to join but I am unable to do so.
FYI - My family and friends who served and who are serving do support my views. My Uncle who is now retired from the USMC is a Police Chaplin he says that your duty as a parent comes before anything else. God will forgive you for abandoning your post, but he will not forgive you for abandoning you child. Think about it, choosing your career over your child is selfish, I dont care what career you have.
I am sorry, but I just dont see how anything outweighs your duty as a parent.
sorry, I can't follow what you are even babbling about; your paragraphs are too long and hard to follow!!!
Outweighs your duty as a parent: last time I checked it took 2 people to make a baby, where is the other person? Or answer this one: what was she thinking when she choose to not use birth control? I do feel for her situation, but I think it goes a hell of a lot deeper than you or I know.
Did it occur to you, she may have chosen to get pregnant so she wouldn't have to end up in harms way like the rest of her fellow soldiers? We make decisions in our lives, we are adults and we have to live with them. She should have considered all this when she decided to enlist...End of story!!!
well guess what? you have generations of family with military service and I want to thank them. I can say the same. My family disagrees with yours: 1-she did sign an oath;; 2-she did have a plan, but think about her plan, she had an idea it would not work. 3-how can you claim to come from a military family and say it is wrong to court marshall a soldier that doesn't want to fight...?? She joined the service volunterily; we have been at war for quite a few years now, she knew what she was getting herself into..4-how can you possibly make the statements about recuits lieing, give us an example of this? I can't believe you come from a military family and hold these liberal, groundless views. I would guess those in your family that have fought do not agree with you. We have a son who was in the first Desert storm, people like you make him sick....
Nita
Some recruiters do lie cause i was lied to. I wanted to be a construction engineer in the army & the recruiter said i would be. He lied cause i was a combat engineer (mos-12B). Luckily though i only worked in my mos 2 out of 4 yrs. A combat engineer is almost like a infantryman.
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