This week, Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook based in Savannah, Georgia, was discharged instead of court-martialed for a trespass she committed back in November.
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Hutchinson was arrested for skipping her deployment flight due to what she described as “child care” related issues. She couldn’t find someone to take care of her son during her deployment. The situation created quite a controversy about the validity of motherhood as an excuse to abandon the duties of a soldier and it threw the Army into such a tizzy that eventually, after months of fighting her suit, they simply discharged her. A court-martial would have required too much effort.
But a lot of you have had mixed opinions about this. Some say she was let off the hook too easily, that she had taken an oath and she didn’t uphold it. Some say that her role as a mother comes before her duties to her nation.
There has always been some controversy about women in the military and the complicated issues surrounding their service, pregnancy and motherhood being among the most prominent. Is it fair to allow women in the military more allowances than other service members? Shouldn’t we all be treated equally and held accountable for the same things? Is it okay for a mother to ditch her responsibilities to her unit and her country because she’s a single mother? Should there be more consideration for single mothers over mothers with partners and family support?
But most interestingly, would we let a single father slide if he did the same thing?
The shifting standards for different groups within the military has been a long-standing issue but this one seems to have struck a nerve among many of our readers and we are curious to know more about what you think.
Are you serving in the military? Are you a single parent? Do you think that the Army was too lenient or do you feel they responded appropriately by giving her a break?
Let us know in the comments!!
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