Posted on 09/02/2007 8:31:08 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
FReep This Poll!
Here is the actual text of the poll:
Should the military ban dual deployment of active-duty married couples who have children?
Yes
No
Not sure
Go to the North County Times/The Californian link provided. Scroll down a bit and look for the poll on the right hand side. Vote your choice.
This poll should remain active for the next 24 hours (approximately.)
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
Yes (6 Votes, 75%)
No (2 Votes, 25%)
Not sure (0 Votes, 0%)
Related news article:
“Active-duty spouses struggle with deployment policy”
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/03/news/top_stories/22_33_019_1_07.txt
Why is a single parent deployed with children any different? It’s not. Be very aware of unintended consequences.
I imagine I might get some flamage for it, but I voted No.
Both parents signed the contract. The US Military is not an employment agency, nor a social service organization.
If bans such as this are ever made law, then we should expect to see prohibitions against two spouses serving under any conditions.
I voted ‘No”
While I am sympathetic to married military spouses plight in these situations, I think that this stuff traces back to the social engineers who promoted military service as a PC something for everyone workplace.
It’s tough. When I was in the Navy I decided that I would get out after my enlistment was over because I had just gotten married during my last year of service.
From my vantage point, I saw marriage and military service as incompatible. Problems would only be compounded if both spouses are active duty.
It is a voluntary Armed Forces, after all.
Ask my wife...I can only serve one master.
ping
NO.
I agree.
Civilized nations do not send their women to fight their wars.
I’ve been retired for 22 years now, but I believe the military had a policy whereby each active duty couple must make a “contract” with someone willing to care for their children if both get deployed at the same time.
They still do. In fact, they both now must attend a class on their responsibilities and what’s expected of them, before they are allowed to serve.
Ok, I’m a military dependant, and I truly think this is a bad idea. Don’t forget that someone else’s parent will likely have to pick up the slack when those other parents get deployed. I also feel it is entirely unfair that someone should receive all the benefits of the military without having to endure the same hardships. I think it would also cause unit cohesion problems.
The real question should be if an active duty military person should be allowed to be married to another.
If the answer is yes, then they should both be deployable and the military should not have to make provisions to keep them stationed together like they do now.
I don’t write this lightly because I know many military couples where both soldiers (the man and the woman) are excellent at their jobs and a credit to the uniform. However, I just don’t think it wise to have active personel married to each other. It causes problems.
Usually what will develope is that the female will go off active duty and pursue a reserve or DoD civilian career (I have seen the reverse also). That is probably is the best solution.
I repeat that I don’t like making harse calls like that because I know too many outstanding military couples...folks I really respect. However, it is in the nation’s best interests to discourage this.
You hit the nail on the head my FRiend!
The primary duty of a single parent with minor children is to nurture and raise those children. There is not a shortage of people that do not bear that responsibility to do the work of the military forces. Those conflicting demands are irreconcilable.
FREEP THIS POLL ***PING!*** FRmail me if you want to be added or removed from the Fearless Poll-Freeping Freepers Ping list. And be sure to ping me to any polls that need Freepin', if I miss them. (looks like a medium volume list) (gordongekko909, founder of the pinglist, stays on the list until his ghost signs up for the list)
done
This is a No-brainer. You can’t take the chance that children will end up orphaned. SHeeesh!
Wondered if anyone was around on the holiday!
(I worked today and am off now for some beer and bbq!)
There’s plenty of active duty positions that need to be filled stateside that one of the parents can be assigned to. Let them take turns if there’s the need to deploy both. Just don’t do it at the same time.
Unless the other parent is unfit for that role and there’s court orders to protect the child, then they still have a parent they can go to.
I’d say in the case of a single parent family where the spouse has died or other extenuating circumstances where the spouse is unavailable, then keep the parent safe.
Joining the military shouldn’t mean having your family destroyed by bureaucracy..
I don’t think they should be deployed AT THE SAME TIME.
Yes (166 Votes, 67%)
No (77 Votes, 31%)
Not sure (4 Votes, 2%)
Beer & bbq for me too!
This would not be an issue had we not embarked on the politically-correct and ill-advised social engineering experiment of putting women in combat.
I voted yes. Since when do we make policy decisions based on exceptions?
True enough. I'll go one further. Single parents with sole custody due to divorce or death of spouse have NO business whatsoever obligating themselves to the military be it a man or woman. Family must come first always in this case. In such cases a single parent should request hardship separation from service if these conditions develop during their service obligation. As well enlistment under these conditions should be denied.
Much of this problem also comes from the ongoing use of reserves for foreign deployments. Reserve or National Guard deployment used to be rare and in extreme cases but now it is the norm. This is because Congress for well over a decade has not addressed the unrealistic low manpower levels in Active Duty End Troop Strength numbers. Both parties in this case are guilty.
I agree.
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