Pregnant soldiers could face court-martial

[vikingBerserker]

as published at Pregnant soldiers could face court-martial - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Army general in northern Iraq has added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could be court-martialed.

The new policy, outlined last month by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo and released Friday by the Army, would apply to both female soldiers who become pregnant on the battlefield and the male soldiers who impregnate them.

Civilians reporting to Cucolo also could face criminal prosecution under the new guidelines.

Army spokesman George Wright said the service typically sends home from the battlefield soldiers who become pregnant. But it is not an Army-wide policy to punish them under the military's legal code, he said.

However, division commanders like Cucolo have the authority to impose these type of restrictions to personnel operating under their command, Wright said.

Cucolo oversees forces in northern Iraq, an area that includes the cities of Kirkuk, Tikrit and Mosul. His Nov. 4 order was first reported by the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Cucolo's order outlines some 20 barred activities. Most of them are aimed at keeping order and preventing criminal activity, such as selling a weapon or taking drugs.

But other restrictions seemed aimed at preventing soldiers from leaving their unit short-handed, including becoming pregnant or undergoing elective surgery that would prevent their deployment.

Under Cucolo's order, troops also are prohibited from "sexual contact of any kind" with Iraqi nationals. And, they cannot spend the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married or expressly permitted to do so.

 

[buffnut453]

And, they cannot spend the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married or expressly permitted to do so.

Ok, so I can see the whole punish for getting pregnant thing - there are some people (thankfully a very few) who might do it just to go home early...yes, some people are that thoughtless. However, what's with the whole "expressly permitted" thing? How on earth does that work?

"Sir, I really like PFC Smithers. She looks really hot in her BDUs and the way she carries her M-16 just drives me wild. And have you seen the way she places a shaped charge? Wow! Well sir, she and me, we got to talkin' and I know she likes me. Request permission to...er...well, you know...er...do the....er...thing?"

Wonder if the US Army now has a form to request nookie?

I think there's some mileage in this one.....

 

[Airframes]

"Hey Sarge, there's some guy here at the desk asking for a 'Form three seven zero alpha one zero'".
"So what's the problem Corporal?"
"Well Sarge, I don't know what that form is, or what it's used for."
"You'll find them in the top, left hand drawer. They are the 'nookie' forms Corporal."
"Ah......(cough)...thanks Sarge" "Just a moment Major Makeout, I'll go get one for you Sir".

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Good that they are going to be court martialed. There is no place for pregnancy in a combat zone. When I was based out of Tikrit we had plenty of women getting pregnant just to go home (most of them were female officers who were married to fellow officers). It was almost a weekly thing to fly them to the main AF base so they could be flown back to Germany.

 

[buffnut453]

Like I said...there are some who would do that. I could tell some stories about my time in uniform but this is a family show....!

 

[buffnut453]

"Just a moment Major Makeout, I'll go get one for you Sir".

Oh yes, the whole rank-name combo:

Private Philanderer
Major Studmuffin
Corporal Bondage

And the list goes on....

I said this had mileage in it!

 

[parsifal]

I dont support women in combat units or in combat roles. Old fashioned and out of date, I know, but this is one of the reasons why.

If women were restricted to no0n combat roles, then so what if they get pregnant. They could continue to work, either at the home country or in the forward deployment somewhere, and because they arent in a combat unit arent putting other peoples lives at risk because they are not at their posts

Yeah I know, I chauvinist b*stard

 

[Lucky13]

Getting pregnant like that and for that reason, would that be cowardness? (spelling?)

 

[Amsel]

Maybe akin to shooting ones own foot. A million dollar wound.

 

[buffnut453]

Maybe akin to shooting ones own foot. A million dollar wound.

And at the costs of raising kids today, it's likely to cost these individuals a million dollars to raise the child...that is unless they have abortions once they get home (which is about as sick and callous as one can get).

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

They could continue to work, either at the home country or in the forward deployment somewhere, and because they arent in a combat unit arent putting other peoples lives at risk because they are not at their posts

Yeah I know, I chauvinist b*stard

No not in a forward deployed location. Even forward deployed locations are dangerous, they do not have the proper facilities, and it still prevents them from doing there job.

If female soldiers wish to get pregnant back in garrison that is fine.

 

[evangilder]

I have never believed that women belong in combat zones for this and other reasons. Its not that I feel they aren't capable. There is just too much temptation to "do the deed".

 

[N4521U]

And well they should! Having served, and taking all the cost of boot training, then the cost of job training, then to be sent out to duty, then to come up pregnant because they cannot take the precautions, which are Not that sophisticated to use. Both should Not be supported in their indiscretions. When you come right down to it, both have damaged Government property and made it unserviceable. At least this is how I was described when I was in the Navy. I became government property the moment I signed on the doted line. Showem no mercy. cheers, Bill

 

[evangilder]

Yep, I can remember that you could get punished for getting a sunburn too.

 

[RabidAlien]

Yep, I can remember that you could get punished for getting a sunburn too.

If it was bad enough and done intentionally to get out of an assignment, yes.

The hard part in all this is proving the intentions. And birth controls are not 100% effective (aside from abstinance, but that's not likely to happen these days). Proving that they got pregnant just to get out of an overseas tour can't be easy, unless someone's stupid and talks too much. So what does the military do if it was an unintended pregnancy (and for me, I would NEVER consider abortion as an option. Ever.)?

 

[Glider]

And I think I read that the USN were thinking of letting women go on subs, an interesting problem if on a boomer.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I have never believed that women belong in combat zones for this and other reasons. Its not that I feel they aren't capable. There is just too much temptation to "do the deed".

Agree....

 

[BikerBabe]

Agree....

Disagree.
I'd say that anyone in a combat zone - no matter what gender - will be either very busy staying alive and working for the good of the team, or end up very dead very soon.
And I do think that most soldiers - male or female - knows that.
If a soldier can't keep his/her legs together or his/her hands to him-/herself, then I agree - then that trooper's got too much time on his/her hands, and they've got nothing to do in such a job.
He/she ought to be smart enough not to mess around with any colleagues in any manner.

And if people can't control themselves, then the soldier in question has got nothing to do in any fighting force, because then he/she becomes a hindrance more than an asset, and no force can make do with that from any of their troops.

No responsibility in behaviour = risk of the loss of lives = negative asset.
Too bad, too sad - bye-bye!

If a soldier falls in love with a colleague no matter what the gender, go apply for a transfer to another unit. I don't care much about preferences, that's people's own sake as long as it's legal.
No soldier can give him-/herself 100% if he/she's preoccupied by worrying about his/her love's safety, or hasn't had enough sleep because of worry/longning/fiddling in the sleeping bag/whatever.

This is the policy within the danish police force:
If someone falls in love with someone else while working together, one or the other seeks a transfer to another precinct or go find a totally different workplace/job.
You can't work together if you worry too much about the safety of your partner, you risk either to become a witness to your loved one getting hurt, getting verbally or physically abused, or the worst-case scenario - getting killed.
Therefore you risk that you overreact, and that is good for no one - no good for you, no good for your partner, and no good for the people you're supposed to apprehend, and it's definitely no good for the force itself.
You do something to change things and then you work apart or leave - end of story.

And if you can't live up to that, there's laws to deal with that - eat it or feel the consequences.
End of rant. *climbs off her soap box and curtsies*

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Disagree.

And if people can't control themselves, then the soldier in question has got nothing to do in any fighting force, because then he/she becomes a hindrance more than an asset, and no force can make do with that from any of their troops.

No responsibility in behaviour = risk of the loss of lives = negative asset.
Too bad, too sad - bye-bye!

But that's the main point here - and at the same time women (at least those in the US Military) are getting pregnant to get out of a combat zone.

I'm not going to speak for any other Armed forces but my own but the problem HERE is that there are many people both male and female who take the oath and don't fully realize what they are getting themselves into. At the same time there has been a great push for women to have the same opportunities in the military as men and this includes combat as is usually a prerequisite to attain additional rank and command positions. With that said, in the push of gender equality, this is a situation that is being dealt with. Those who were against women in front time combat positions are now saying "I told you so" and it wasn't necessarily because they didn't want women there or didn't think a woman could do the job.

Sorry but if you're a woman and you want to serve in the US armed forces, you will have to realize and understand what you sign up for and if you use a biological situation to attempt to find your way out of combat, you need to pay the price.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Disagree.
I'd say that anyone in a combat zone - no matter what gender - will be either very busy staying alive and working for the good of the team, or end up very dead very soon.
:

Negative. Not all the time spent in a combat zone are outside the wire. There is plenty of "downtime" back inside the camp.

Being at an Airbase in Iraq we had a lot of support personal on our camp, and a lot of them were women. There was a lot of hanky panky going on...