Yahoo News posted a story yesterday about a woman who didn't show up for her deployment flight to Afghanistan because she had no one to care for her 10-month-old son while she was gone.
Cue the violins.
"Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son — her mother — was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems."
My goodness!
The story goes on to say...
"The Army requires all single-parent soldiers to submit a care plan for dependent children before they can deploy to a combat zone.
Hutchinson had such a plan — her mother, Angelique Hughes, had agreed to care for the boy. Hughes said Monday she kept the boy for about two weeks in October before deciding she couldn't keep him for a full year.
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.
"This is an infant, and they require 24-hour care," Hughes said. "It was very, very stressful, just too much for me to deal with."
Hughes said she returned Kamani to his mother in Georgia a few days before her scheduled deployment Nov. 5.
She said they told her daughter's commanders they needed more time to find another family member or close friend to help Hughes care for the boy, but Hutchinson was ordered to deploy on schedule."
Here's my hope: I want the Army to prosecute Specialist Hutchinson to the absolute fullest extent possible for going AWOL from her flight and refusing her deployment.
There are THOUSANDS of single parents in the military. They get deployed each and every day. I am horrified at the example it will send if the Army does NOT punish this woman severely for thinking that her situation was unique or special or gave her rights that are afforded to no one else.
Know what? The military routinely grants compassionate assignments. They also routinely work with families to find successful alternatives to tough situations. I've seem 'em do it. But that can't be done until people work through the appropriate channels.
Specialist Hutchinson most definitely did not.
It is not the Army's problem that she's a single parent. It is not the Army's fault that her plans for her mother to care for her child fell through. (And it's not the Army's fault that Specialist Hutchinson's mother runs an illegal daycare center, because 1 adult versus 14 kids is most definitely not within legal realms.)
And let's be real here, folks. I have a kid that's only a couple months older than this twit's. A 10-month-old is not an infant who requires 24-hour care, until it's a special needs baby, and I'm sure that would have been noted if that were the case. If grandma really wanted to add this child on top of her other duties, it's doable.
I smell a scam. So here's my bet. I bet this woman joined the Army not out of any concept of service to her nation, but because she had nothing else to do with her life. And I bet that she thought that using the baby as an excuse would get her out of her deployment. And I bet that she now thinks that her story will drum up public compassion and that will result in a "get out of jail free" card.
I hope the Army proves her wrong.
Read more here.
You say that you have a child...but yet you show ZERO compassion for another mom. How do you know what it's like to be a single mom in the military? Have you ever been one? This woman did the right thing - children always come first.
ReplyDeleteArmy Mom - you're right; I'm not a single mom, nor am I in the military. I do have a tremendous amount of friends and family in the military, however, and have had a lot of exposure to the facts of military life. And I have a lot of respect for military parents who do the right thing . This woman clearly did not. And when people do not do the right thing, there must be consequences for those actions.
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