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Army discharges single mom who wouldn't deploy
SFGate.com ^ | 2/11/10 | Henry Lee

Posted on 02/11/2010 3:08:23 PM PST by NormsRevenge

A single mother from Oakland has been discharged from the Army for refusing to leave her infant son behind to go to Afghanistan, but she will not be court-martialed, her attorney said Thursday.

Alexis Hutchinson, 21, had faced criminal charges at a court-martial for refusing to accompany her unit when it deployed in November. Although that is no longer a prospect, Hutchinson has been demoted from specialist to private and will lose all military and veteran benefits, said her attorney, Rae Sue Sussman of San Francisco.

She said Hutchinson had been given an other-than-honorable discharge.

In a statement, Hutchinson said she was "excited to know what will happen to me, and that I am not facing jail. This means I can still be with my son, which is the most important thing."

Hutchinson enlisted in the Army in 2007 straight out of Fremont High School in East Oakland. She was supposed to deploy overseas as a cook with her unit, the 3rd Infantry Division, on Nov. 5. She skipped the flight, she contended, because she had nobody to take care of her then-10-month-old son, Kamani.

Hutchinson told her commanding officers she had arranged for her mother to watch Kamani while she was away for her one-year tour of duty, but when that fell through at the last minute, she could find no alternative.

In January, the Army charged her with four court-martial counts. She could have spent up to two years behind bars had she been convicted of being absent without leave, missing a movement, dereliction of duty and insubordinate conduct toward a noncommissioned officer.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; US: California
KEYWORDS: army; deploy; discharges; militarymoms; militarywomen; singlemom
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To: NormsRevenge

would a male be coddled so?


41 posted on 02/11/2010 3:55:23 PM PST by mreerm
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To: colorado tanker

Having a bad service record would probably be regarded as a “badge of honor” in leftist Oakland.


42 posted on 02/11/2010 3:55:23 PM PST by RanGreHad
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To: Morgana

A good chance she doesn’t know either.


43 posted on 02/11/2010 3:56:24 PM PST by Ronin
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To: NormsRevenge

No not for me. I don’t really feel the anger.

Sounds to me that she planned to go, but the bottom fell out at the last minute.

Her problem was taking matters into her own hands and missing movement. That is bad juju.

Had she gone to family services or even TDS, she may have learned other options. You can request a hardship discharge for example. There is more to this than we know, methinks.
The OTH is bad. They pack you up, put you outside the base, and say see-ya. And there is no unemployment or severance. But, most civilian employers don’t care about a DD214, so hopefully, that won’t affect her much.

BTW the Military is currently over manned and has a huge waiting list. If you are in and even sneeze the wrong way, they will put you out. They have nothing to lose. They have plenty of people.


44 posted on 02/11/2010 3:56:38 PM PST by 240B (he is doing everything he said he would'nt and not doing what he said he would)
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To: NormsRevenge

Will she now become an Army of One?


45 posted on 02/11/2010 4:01:04 PM PST by 353FMG (Save the Planet -- Eliminate Socialism)
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To: NormsRevenge
ART 115. MALINGERING
Any person subject to this chapter who for the purpose of avoiding work, duty, or service--
(1) feigns illness, physical disablement, mental lapse or derangement; or
(2) intentionally inflects self-injury; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Intentionally getting pregnant sounds like a self-injury to me.

46 posted on 02/11/2010 4:02:13 PM PST by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power)
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To: scoobysnak71

But Top, You don’t understand.

She joined because of all the nice pictures and the promises of going to college, medical coverage and someone neglected -in 2007- to tell her there was a war going on and soldiers fight wars.
And since it was 2007, we can BLAME BUSH....

This madness is really getting ridiculous...can’t wait till the openly gay and females enter the Submarine Community.
That should make for some interesting times...


47 posted on 02/11/2010 4:03:30 PM PST by xrmusn ((6/98 )VOTE THE INCUMBENTS OUT)
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To: xrmusn
As long as she looks like this.


48 posted on 02/11/2010 4:09:23 PM PST by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power)
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To: scoobysnak71

As a former JAG prosecutor, I agree wholeheartedly.

To put a fine point on it, in today’s politically correct Army, a woman who is engaged in consensual sex with a man can demand that he stop mid-thrust, and if he finishes that one thrust before pulling out, she will be taen seriously if she claims she was raped by virtue of that final half thrust.

I had to give sexual harassment briefings to the entire post twice a year. Much of the breifings were discussion of reducing the risk of being a victim. When I presented the data indicating that the most common factors among sexual assault victims were sexually suggestive behavior, sexually suggestive clothing, and intoxication, one butchy soldier complained that she had a right to act, dress and drink how and when she wanted.

I nodded in agreement as I explained that just as a soldier increases his risk of dying in a fatal accident caused by someone else by exercising his legal right to drive as fast as he wishes on the autobahn in Germany (where we were), so too does a woman increase her risk of being raped by someone else by exercising her legal right to dress and act like a drunken slut (I was a bit more diplomatic). Because the command cares about you, it will never stop presenting information for those who wish to take steps to reduce their risk of being a victim of fatal car accident or a rape.


49 posted on 02/11/2010 4:09:46 PM PST by Notwithstanding (Wer glaubt ist nie allein. Who believes is never alone.)
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To: rednesss
You were saying ...

Intentionally getting pregnant sounds like a self-injury to me.

Yes, I'm sure many women feel that way when they are giving birth. They're saying, "Why did I do this!?" ... LOL...

50 posted on 02/11/2010 4:14:36 PM PST by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Minipax

Nor should married moms, unless their youngest child is age 18 or over. Our nation’s need for military personnel is not that desperate.


51 posted on 02/11/2010 4:14:39 PM PST by Elsiejay (.)
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To: colorado tanker

“...less than honorable discharge...”

Is that the one that upgrades to “honorable” or similar if they don’t get into any trouble for six months ?


52 posted on 02/11/2010 4:15:15 PM PST by PLMerite (Ride to the sound of the Guns - I'll probably need help.)
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To: rednesss

Looks like she couldn’t managed getting the top buttons to quite work right... :-)


53 posted on 02/11/2010 4:17:15 PM PST by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Morgana
She should have learned from single Dads. They've been doing it for centuries.


54 posted on 02/11/2010 4:19:37 PM PST by Clock King (There's no way to fix D.C.)
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To: NormsRevenge
By my math, since she enlisted in 2007 and had a 10-month-old in 2009, she got pregnant and had the kid while she was on active duty.

Sorry, no sympathy on my part. She created the situation herself.

55 posted on 02/11/2010 4:20:54 PM PST by Bob
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To: elpadre
Agree! She will take care of her baby, and he does come first. unless we wind up with a totalitarian society where children are 'raised' in government centers--pretty close to it now , looking at the Dept of Education. Women do not belong in combat. During Desert Storm, parents of infants(or older children)--both parents, I mean--were called up from the Guard to deploy. Why deploy the mother?

The Far Left, Feminazi ERA(Equal Rights Amendment) failed around 1982 I think, but so what--the nazis have had their way anyway.

Now this young woman will have a less than honorable to explain, cut off from any benefits, for trying to do the right thing. I hope the sun will shine for her and child, despite this slap in the face. If I had any $$$ I wold try to help her.

56 posted on 02/11/2010 4:20:58 PM PST by molybdenum ((Yes I posted this masterpeace))
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To: NormsRevenge
There is another way the matter could be handled. Just issue the woman the Combat Back Pack Baby Carrier and cammy Huggies. A metal cereal bowl would serve as headgear for the kid but I don't think I'd want him to have a weapon in his hands yet.

Of course her unit would also need the Armored Crib Humvee and ...........

57 posted on 02/11/2010 4:23:25 PM PST by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: NormsRevenge
She said Hutchinson had been given an other-than-honorable discharge.

There is so much more to this story...You have to earn one of those...


58 posted on 02/11/2010 4:26:49 PM PST by darkwing104 (Lets get dangerous)
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Can anyone explain why females aren’t required to sign up for Selective Service at the age of 18. All males at age 18 must sign up even though we aren’t currently drafting personale. What’s with this? I thought women were against sexual discrimination. I’m sure that a liberal could explain the metaphysical subleties of this contradiction.


59 posted on 02/11/2010 4:27:34 PM PST by donaldo
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To: Star Traveler
If that's from Down Periscope, I believe the boys in he laundry saw to it that her uniforms shrank about 5 sizes.
60 posted on 02/11/2010 4:27:53 PM PST by NonValueAdded (Mass. elects Scott Brown. NVA:" for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my birth state")
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