Spc. Alexis Hutchinson is being both praised and reprimanded for choosing to stay home with her son instead of deploying to Afghanistan. I myself am torn on the issue. Part of me is like, “Let that Mama stay home with her baby!”…..while the other part understands the commitment a person makes when they sign on the Army’s clear and dotted line. Everyone is required to sign Form D-A 53-05, a form that specifically states that failure to put together a family care plan while you are away on deployment could result in disciplinary action. So it’s not like this was new news….Hutchinson knew the drill.
According to Hutchinson’s civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, Hutchinson was informed by her superiors that she WOULD be deploying and her son was placed in foster care. After 10 days, Hutchinson’s mother stepped in and agreed to take the boy…albeit grudgingly. Apparently she’s stressed out with having to take care of other ailing family members and running a daycare out of her house five days a week. I guess the problem I have is that in the middle of rules, regulations, complaints and paperwork, there’s a 10 month old kid getting bounced around like a rubber ball. Yes, Alexis Hutchinson knew exactly what she was required to do…what she was being paid to do. I’ve been reading comments that say stuff like, “Women wanted equality, well here you go then!” Or, “Maybe she’s related to a ‘Katrina’ victim…they sure know how to work over the system.” Myself personally, I don’t have enough facts and info to make judgments about whether or not she’s trying to weasel out of deployment.
What I do know is that Hutchinson signed a binding contract that super-glued her soul to the United States Army. And I don’t see an unwed mother who broke the rules standing a chance at winning a legal battle with the Army. Over 30,000 single mothers have already deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan….and I’m willing to bet they don’t feel a whole lot of sympathy for those who can’t “keep up”. As civilians, we are clueless about how things work in the military. Broken families, back-t0-back deployments, mental fatigue, wrecked marriages…this is, sadly, what has become the norm for most military families. To give the Army some credit here, they were emphatic about stating that they would not deploy a single parent without anyone to care for their child.
One word that I hated hearing my Mother say over and over…and the word that I find myself telling my own daughter….CONSEQUENCES. And for Spc. Alexis Hutchinson…it looks like she’ll be living with those for quite some time.
Authors bio is coming up shortly. 
