November 17, 2009, - 11:09 am

Ban Single Moms From the U.S. Military

By Debbie Schlussel

I’ve always been against women in the military, except in clerical and USO-style positions because there is little upside and a whole lot of downside.  They get pregnant, and they’re of no use after that, or a poor baby suffers with some other caregiver.    Or other “spectacular” results:  we have Army cooks, like Shoshanna Johnson, in the war zone, and they get kidnapped in Iraq.  Then, when we do something about it and risk other soldiers to find the women and get them back in a way we’d never do for male soldiers.  And then they repay us by attacking other soldiers on CNN’s “Larry King Live” and defending Islamic terrorists like Nidal Malik Hassan.

alexishutchinson

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson: Using Her Baby Mama Status to Get Out of Duty

Or we have incompetent soldiers like Jessica Lynch, who–after a ton of training–still don’t know how to load firearms correctly and use them, can’t read a map, and get lost.  Then, we repeat by blowing our battle and security plans in order to find and rescue the female soldier. And they–at least, in Lynch’s case–get an undeserved affirmative-action-for-vulvas Bronze Star (and other unearned accolades and awards).

But those complaints don’t even take into consideration soldiers like Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, who are single mothers and jeopardize their kids’ well being if they go to war.  Statistics show that a large number of female soldiers in the military are, indeed, single mothers, likely with no father figure in their kids’ lives.  That’s bad enough.  What happens if they die?  What happens if they refuse to go when called up to go to war, using their kids as an excuse?

That’s what’s happening in Hutchinson’s case.  Her story shows how much our military is hampered by and bends over backward for single mothers in its ranks.  It’s absurd.

An Army cook and single mom is confined to her base in Georgia and may face criminal charges for skipping her deployment flight to Afghanistan in order to take care of her infant son.

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, who was arrested by military police Nov. 6, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders when her mother was unable to care for her 10-month-old son, Kamani.

Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, alleges that one of Hutchinson’s superiors at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care.

No charges have been filed, but Kevin Larson, a spokesman for the Army post, says commanders are investigating, the Associated Press says.

Larson says he does not know what Hutchinson’s commanders may have said, but that the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for a child.

Savannah’s WTOC -TV reports that Larson calls some of the statements from the Hutchinson camp “misleading” and says that the Army gave her an additional 30 days to work out a plan when her initial child care arrangements fell through.

At the time of Hutchinson’s arrest, Kamani, was placed into custody overnight with a daycare provider on the post, Larson says.

Yup, you’re paying for full-time parents for single mothers in the military. It’s like paying double or triple for one largely useless soldierette.  Are Army cooks such a hot commodity that the military is willing to go through all of this?  This is the military, NOT Jean George or even Nobu.

It’s time to ban single mothers–and perhaps any mothers of kids younger than their teens–from the military. It clearly exacts more costs and bureaucratic BS than it’s worth. And it harms the kids even more than they’re already harmed without having a father in their lives.

There is no benefit to having single mothers in the U.S. armed forces. Period.

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81 Responses

WOW….I didn’t know ppl was this STUPID! I’m a single soldier of three boys and I love them with all my heart:) I came back frm dwn range April 2010, my husband sent our kids to live with my sister and walked out on his fam…. some single soldier aren’t single by choice! Life happens and for the retards on here with the foolish comments are just PATHETIC! Does that mean I should have been put out. I am a single soldier and mother who perform my duties as a mother and soldier proficiently, so think before you speak bcuz you sound dumb as hell.

Tabatha on July 16, 2011 at 6:29 pm

Things change, people grow apart, and I have only been on one deployment since my son was born, but let me tell you what. . . I did my job and made it home safe. You should focus on the people that mess it up for everyone else, and not make it a mass message about all females. I love my son, and I love my job. I would hat always oput my son before my job, but the Army gives you a chance to make sure you have a plan when you deploy. So, if you dont take that, then you just want to get out. If you dont fight to make sure everything is going to be ok, then you dont want to be in the military. They give you plenty of time to take care of it, and will NOT deploy you without that plan…So, don’t talk about all single mothers just because there are a handful of them that are worthless.

Ashleigh on September 8, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Whoever wrote this article is straight up dumb. Get yourself and your women issues together. We are very talented beings. we can do everything we do in the military , carry a baby, birth a baby and get back to business… it takes alot of sacrifice as it does for a male as well, and you cant use certain ppl to judge all females who are single and in the army with kids .. whoever wrote this is so nieve and a lack of better words, stupid. i feel sorry for whoever wrote this. no life at all.

ashley kay on October 11, 2011 at 1:52 pm

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!!!! Please tell me that this was a joke. I am a single parent not by choice but it doesn’t affect my work ethics or job performance. My daughter is very well taken care of. For you to say that ALL single military mothers are not capable of doing their jobs just blows my minds. There are single military fathers with the same issues. I don’t hear you speaking on that. You are a small minded individual that probably has no self worth. I sacrifice alot of time and energy making sure I provide a good life for my child and still being an active mother as well as being in college full time so don’t speak on something based on a few statistics. You don’t live the life we live or put up with crap we put up with. It offends me that you can be a woman and have no clue about what it takes to be a WORKING MOTHER. Lady get a life, better yet JOIN THE MILITARY since you know so much about it.

Marion Nelson on November 14, 2011 at 12:11 pm

What a perfect example of ignorance at its best…you should be ashamed of yourself.

Michelle W. on December 28, 2011 at 8:51 pm

Wow. This article is disrespectful of all single parents on active duty (yes Debbie there are single fathers too). Is it just women in uniform that you hate or did it never occur to you that men are single parents too? Being a single parent on active duty is challenging and stressful but not impossible. I was a single mom for many years while being stationed on an aircraft carrier (U S Navy). My son is college educated, not a drug or alcohol user and not an axe murderer. Being raised by a single Navy mom wasn’t always easy for him but we both knew we were in it together.

Anybody in uniform will tell you that our livelihood can be challenging, whether you are married, single, parents, straight, gay (yes we allow gays to serve openly now. You must really be freaking out). But please, do not pretend to be an expert on something that you CLEARLY know nothing about.

Laura P on December 29, 2011 at 3:26 pm

If you have NEVER served in the US military then keep your mouth shut! I did not create my child alone and I did not choose to raise her alone! What about single fathers serving? Or the numerous men, married or single, who have children at each duty station or port visit they have been to. What HUMAN, and I use the term loosely, in their right mind could have the nerve to say some of the most ridiculous and out right disrespectful things that have been posted here is beyond me. So what she decided to stay behind and care for her child. Would you rather she put him in the system for your tax dollars to raise him? All military members, single parents or not, are the reason you all are allowed to post such ignorance freely! So if it bothers you so much then take her place and do her job! I’m sure you won’t decide to because you enjoy your daily life of sitting behind a computer venting over something that you have NO CLUE about. Ignorance is speaking on a subject that you have no knowledge of and you Debbie are a prime example. God bless your soul because you will surely need it.

Proud Single Navy Mom on January 26, 2012 at 6:45 pm

I have too many thoughts running through my head on how to reply to this article, so I will just say this: You, Miss Streudel, are a complete failure as a decent human being. Go crawl in a hole with your little neo-Nazi pals and stop being a nuisance to society.

Kane Ford on January 27, 2012 at 3:05 am

Bet she never would dare enlist. I see where she is going with this article, here is an objective view… What about single fathers or can you only look at it from a womans point of view? Im a single father on my third deployment. I make it work, I have family and friends that help but none the less dont write an article thinking that only women are single parents in the military. Do us all a favor and shut the hell up and stay out of something you yourself dont even comprehend.

Brian on January 27, 2012 at 5:25 am

The blonde hair on ya ain’t a lie is it. I know dozens of women in the military most are really smart (i’ll admit a couple weren’t that bright but i’ve worked with several dumb male military as well). Also even after pregnancy they continue to be productive. several of my colleagues have gotten pregnant then came back to work. They were given a month or 2 of maternity leave then came back to work. Personally I hope that this article is written just with the intention of inciting fury and gaining attention for your site and not your honest opinion because if it is then I’d have to say that you’re one of those people that needs to be taken out of the gene pool.

evenhead on January 27, 2012 at 9:57 am

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