Soldier mom refuses deployment to care for baby

[David]

AP


SAVANNAH, Ga. – An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.

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.

Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Monday that one of Hutchinson's superiors told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care.

"For her it was like, 'I couldn't abandon my child,'" Sussman said. "She was really afraid of what would happen, that if she showed up they would send her to Afghanistan anyway and put her son with child protective services."

Hutchinson, who is from Oakland, Calif., remained confined Monday to the boundaries of Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, 10 days after military police arrested her for skipping her unit's flight. No charges have been filed, but a spokesman for the Army post said commanders were investigating.

Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child.

"I don't know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it," Larson said. "If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there's no question she would not have been deployed."

Hutchinson's son, Kamani, was placed into custody of local child welfare officials for "less than two days" when she was arrested and jailed briefly, Larson said. Hutchinson's mother picked up the child a week ago and took him back to her home in California.

Hutchinson, who's assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, joined the Army in 2007 and had no previous deployments, Sussman said. She said Hutchinson is no longer in a relationship with the father.

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.

Larson, the Army post spokesman, said officials planned to keep Hutchinson in Georgia as investigators gathered facts about the case.

"Spc. Hutchinson's deployment is halted," Larson said. "There will be no deployment while this situation is ongoing."














This undated self-portrait provided by Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson shows Spc. Hutchinson and her son, Kamani. Hutchinson is an Army cook and single mother based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga. who could face criminal charges after she refused to deploy to Afghanistan, saying she had no family able to care for her child.

[MarineAO]

Single parents should not be allowed in the Military and this is a gleaming example of WHY!!!!!!

[revwardoc]

I agree. If she can't fullfil her obligations as a soldier, then she should be discharged. The US Military is NOT a day-care center.

[Whale]

Kick her out!
The term "single mother" has become some sort of badge of honor lately. There are reasons such as divorce or widowhood but too many just go out and have babies like they are getting pets. Kids deserve two parents.

[reconeil]

Whale-on Whale! Right-On (both)!
Liked both: "Like getting pets" & "Two parents" Valid Points.
You're quite realistically honest & say it like it is. Bravo!

Neil

[Keith_Hixson]

I have empathy for the young woman, but if she can't fulfill her obligations then she should resign. People must take responsibility for their lives.

Keith

[Whale]

Upon reading again, it appears that some officer played hard a$$ and overstepped Army policy. The girl should have been referred to an agency such as ACS for counselling. The army isn't going to miss a cook for a month or two.

My opinion of "single mothers" stands. My daughter is one.

[MSP39]

You know, my mom was a single mom, not by choice. My father was/is crazy and the marriage ended when I was mere months old. She didn't get the help so many single parents get these days. She did it the hard way, worked her butt off. We had some family help but not much. Since my father was a vet we got an allowance of sorts from the VA, it was 100 dollars a month for two kids. It was like being spit on. This woman made the choice to have a child, even if it wasn't a direct choice. I feel for her but the military is a place where you convict yourself to obligations. If you can't do it then don't sigh up!

[don744]

Originally Posted by Whale

Upon reading again, it appears that some officer played hard a$$ and overstepped Army policy. The girl should have been referred to an agency such as ACS for counselling. The army isn't going to miss a cook for a month or two.

My opinion of "single mothers" stands. My daughter is one.

Whale,

Not that you didn't miss something...what you missed was the wrong thing. Soldiers with children (single or married to another servicemember) are required to have a workable family care plan. This spells out who gets "custody" of the child when the Soldier must deploy (whether for a week for a training exercise or a year for a roatation to theater).

This is a regulatory requirement that, if the plan is not completed or is unworkable, the Soldier is REQUIRED to be processed for seperation. All too often, the family care plan is a bunch of check the block Bull Sh__ that gets thrown together to keep the Soldier in the Army. That is...until deployment time comes and the unit commander relies on the plan to be workable.

The CO absolutely overstepped his bounds with the foster care thing...if that is what he said. Because I just can't believe a commander can be so unblievably stupid as to say something like that...there may be more to the story (bad reporting). Since a family care plan is, in essence, handing your child off to someone else to take care of...I can see a reporter using "foster care" as a way to explain the family care plan.

If the plan doesn't work...put her out. The Army is not a welfare system.

[Whale]

I agree with many of the IFs. The trouble is that is all they are.
I don'thkave enough facts to form a judgement. How about y'all.