Last night I put up a diary that contained the following report as it was coming out:
Army discharging single mom who refused deployment
This undated self-portrait provided by Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson shows Spc. Hutchinson and her son, Kamani. Hutchinson learned Thursday, Feb. 11. 2010 that she is being discharged from the military instead of facing a court-martial after she refused to deploy to Afghanistan, saying she had no family able to care for her infant son.
(AP Photo/Alexis Hutchinson, File)
A single-mom soldier who says she refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she had no family able to care for her young son will be discharged from the military instead of facing a court-martial, the Army said Thursday.
Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, was arrested in November after skipping her unit's deployment flight. Hutchinson, 21, said she couldn't leave her son because her mother had backed out of plans to keep the child a few days before the soldier's scheduled departure. >>>>>
It garnered a few replies and within those from a couple of people, one couldn't get it no matter what was replied back, that apparently live for themselves and not for any thought as to the coming generations, the main responsibility of all adults, as parents especially but even those who stay single or are married but don't have children.
One of the replies follows, who seemed to want to bash a caring parent but doing service to her country, the other who didn't get was taking the same line.
All we're seeing here is one side of the story.
All we're seeing is one side of the story here. At first glance, this does look like a bonehead move from the Army. But let's look bat the whole story.
Back in early January, Alexis Hutchinsons lawyer said she still hopes the case can be settled without a military trial. There was no trial.
Ft Stewart spokesman said: "There is evidence both from Pvt. Hutchinson and her fellow soldiers to indicate she had no intentions of deploying." and,
Larson said the Army had evidence that Hutchinson, regardless of her family situation, would have resisted deploying "by any means."
As for her mothers excuse of being "overwhelmed caring for other family members with health problems and special needs.", what is being left out of this diary is that Angelique Hughes, Hutchinsons mother, also runs a daycare center at her home, keeping about 14 children during the day.
Let's not start demonizing the Army and their policies without getting the whole story.
by blahblahblahblah on Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 09:28:43 PM EST
My guess is he/she is Not in the Military nor is a Veteran, and if either or not, I would hope if with child or children it's a better parent than it's portraying, not One Mention of the Child's Welfare, from either one, mentioned nor understanding the comments I added nor the very short opinion points, like this:
This policy, long standing, should have already been changed with these two long running occupations and the professional military, so called now but the previous administration thought the country also needed a highly paid merc army also.
I added this in the comments:
She, and others
Need to be UpGraded to Honorable with the full ability of their Veterans Status, this should have been changed as soon as they started sending troops into these theaters on more then one tour, single parent, married parent makes no difference!
I don't even need to break down It's Highlighted Portions {and those highlights are what was posted} it was trying to make some point with, there self explanatory or should be especially for a parent or a parent, like her mother.
Do military kids survive the duties of their parents, most do with no lingering results from the stresses they may feel of deployments of a parent and more of those now are females. But this past decade has Not Been Duty As Usual. Multiple Deployments into dangerous occupation theaters, and short periods between are the norm and have been. Many more soldiers are returning suffering from the mental strains of War and what they've seen, done, or know is going on in these theaters, and the Children of live with what their parents, especially single parents bring back with them.
The purpose of this is to add some information that should be common sense to educated responsible adults, and education comes with life and experiences not just book learning.
Army study explores deployment stress on soldiers' children
A recent monograph published by the Strategic Studies Institute at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., sheds new light on how children are coping with parents' multiple deployments after eight years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The study, "The Effects of Multiple Deployments on Army Adolescents," reinforces much of the conventional wisdom regarding stress and deployments, but it also breaks new ground, mainly in finding no clear link between the number of deployments soldiers undertake and the level of stress their children experience.
"With almost a million children in Army families, the absence of a deployed parent will likely influence a generation of adolescents," {my highlight} wrote authors Leonard Wong and Stephen Gerras, both retired Army officers and now professors at the Army War College.
Snip
Previous research showed that parents clearly associated multiple deployments with higher levels of stress among their children. Yet the Wong-Gerras study found that was not the case. Surprisingly, children aged 14 to 16 with a parent deployed reported lower stress levels than those without.
Snip
The researchers also found a surprising 56 percent of children reported they coped well or very well with a parent's deployment, while 17 percent said they coped poorly or very poorly. >>>>>
Children 14 to 16, what about those who are in the ages of starting to understand and are bonding with the most important adults in their lives, their parents and for all children now, whether early teens or younger, what are the longer term effects going to be especially with added variables.
And what about those 17% especially, but even some in the 56% positive, still growing up?
I placed the link to the study above but will bring it in, further with the synopsis and links given, for those that don't even attempt to answer their own questions or do a quick search out, with a few clicks, that which erase most points attempted, like the one above, because of sheer laziness or ignorance.
The Effects of Multiple Deployments on Army Adolescents
* Added January 28, 2010
* Type: Monograph
* 44 Pages
* View the Summary First
* Download it Now
* Cost: Free
* Send this page to a colleague.
Brief Synopsis
Multiple deployments have become a way of life for our Soldiers. In Army families, these frequent deployments increase the burden on children who must face the stress and strain of separation and anxiety. The authors take a much-needed, detailed look at the effects of multiple deployments on Army adolescents. The results of this study reinforce some of what we already know concerning deployments and children, but they also reveal some very interesting, counterintuitive findings that challenge the conventional wisdom concerning Army adolescents. This study goes beyond merely explaining the impact 8 years of war is having on the children of our Soldiers; rather, it explores the specific factors that increase or alleviate stress on Army adolescents. The results reveal that Army adolescents, contrary to what many believed, are much more self-aware and resilient. Furthermore, they are capable of understanding the multiple implications of having a parent serve in the all-volunteer Army during a time of war. Army children may experience the anxiety and stress that often surround a parent’s deployment, but results conclude that there are factors that policymakers, leaders, and parents can use to increase a child’s ability to cope with a life of repeated deployments. In this era of persistent conflict, we should carefully consider such findings. >>>>>
While this study gives a pretty upbeat outlook on the effects on children of soldiers doing multiple deployments there's a number of 'what if's', and seems to point out some, even in the synopsis and summary, but it does bring more to a real debate on the effects on the children, especially on those of single parents who's extended families aren't close by or are struggling to make a life themselves and females who bring the life of a child into this world.
It should also be remembered that this is a study for the Army as are the statements made in the report about, by an army spokesperson as to Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson and her situation and not the child. There have been a number of these reports over these past years, not as many as one would think, and probably a few more then make any news, and those known about seem to end the same way, less then Honorable Discharge which then affects the ex-soldiers life forever as to anything to do with their service to the Country as a veteran.
Back in our day, 'Nam, we had the Champaign Guard, the Privileged Elites for the most part, just had a president who came from that elite group, who received Honorable Discharges even when not completing their full duty, and that recent president wasn't the only one.
The incidents that surface, like that with Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, have really nothing to do with her ability to serve, there are numerous military installations she can be sent to in performance of her duty and she seemed willing to do that as she was already, except the fear that may be present in the child and or parent of doing so in a dangerous long running occupation theater especially one with growing danger because of the increase in hatreds these Wars of Choice have created in that region.
In my now long life and trying to do advocacy on issues, especially this past decade as to these occupation theaters, as time permitted, are related to my brother and sister veterans and military personnel, those and the many other life issues I always try and do as I was brought up, to leave behind a better world as not only taught by my parents and grand parents but they showed in their daily lives and worries. By example seen by those behind me or trying for long term effects in pushing for a positive direction of the society I exist in. I'm not always successful as no one is a perfect being, but I try.
We as adults, like most of those before us, have one Huge Responsibility, and there are plenty in everyones lives, that being the World we leave behind for those who are already here and growing up and those to come. Not just as adults, whether you have children or not, but as Responsible Intelligent Adults!
One last note: Think about the children living in and growing up in both occupation theaters and how these occupations are shaping the lives of even just some!