about a week ago I found a cnn article that I think is atleast slightly relevant to the woman's rights topics we covered with our Herstory projects. The article describes Alexis Hutchinson's uncommon predicament. She is both the single mother of a ten month old baby and a soldier who was scheduled to deploy to Iraq in November. When her plane was set to take off she was at home caring for her son Kamani who she feared would be placed in foster care if she left. She is now facing serious desertion charges which the Army justified by saying she had plenty of time to set up arrangements for the care of her son. Hutchinson had initially made an arrangement with her mother, but she later backed out saying she was too busy with her house run day care and simply did not have the time to watch the child. Hutchinson was granted a 30 day extension to find care for her son, but still was not ready to deploy when the deadline came. The Army claims that an investigation showed Hutchinson never intended to return to duty (you better not be laughing) and was deliberately looking for a way to avoid service.
This situation poses thought provoking questions on two fronts. Firstly, is Hutchinson actually using her child as an excuse to avoid service? Or is she a devoted mother being torn from her child? Secondly, what is the right action for this situation? Should the army have the authority to tear a single mother from her newborn child? Should soldiers in this situation be excused from duty? Should the Army be required to support these mother-soldiers during their absence from service?
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