Single Mother Is Spared Court-Martial

[groovedaddy]

Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a 21-year-old Army cook and single parent, was days from deploying to Afghanistan last fall when her mother backed out of an agreement to take care of her 10-month-old son for the duration of her one-year tour.

Specialist Hutchinson’s mother, Angelique Hughes, had a child of her own at home and was also caring for a sick sister while running a day care center from her home in Oakland, Calif. Feeling overwhelmed, Ms. Hughes took the boy back to Savannah, Ga., where Specialist Hutchinson was based, and begged her to find someone else.

That is when Specialist Hutchinson did what might seem natural to a parent but to the Army was a serious offense: she stayed home with her child and missed her flight to Afghanistan. She was arrested and later charged with offenses that could have led to a court-martial and jail time.

On Thursday, Specialist Hutchinson received an other-than-honorable discharge, ending an impasse that had surprised many legal experts and spurred lively debate in military circles

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/us/12awolmom.html?th&emc=th

[Captain Hilts]

1. I'm of two minds on this. Prosecuting her seems silly and inhumane, yet

she signed on the dotted line and it's unfair to those without kids to start making exemptions.

I would have done the same thing she did, but it's a complicated issue.