By It is now okay for female soldiers to get pregnant in Iraq:
The controversial order punishing pregnancy among troops serving in northern Iraq will cease to exist on Jan. 1 when forces throughout the country begin operating under a new, unified set of regulations, an Army official has confirmed.
With the transformation from Multi-National Force-Iraq to United States Forces-Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in the country, is issuing a comprehensive General Order No. 1, according Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for Odierno.
It will draw from various orders previously in place but leave out the pregnancy punishments enacted in November by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo.
The decision to drop pregnancy from the list of prohibitions for U.S. soldiers comes less than a week after Stars and Stripes reported on Cucolo’s order. The policy, which leaves open the possibility of court-martial and jail time for soldiers who become pregnant or impregnate others, drew sharp criticism from opponents, who said it infringed on basic rights of the individual.
Among the critics were four Democratic senators who wrote a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh, asking him to rescind the pregnancy restriction.
“This policy could encourage female soldiers to delay seeking critical medical care with potentially serious consequences for the mother and child,” said the letter signed by Barbara Boxer, Barbara Mikulski, Jeanne Shaheen and Kristen Gillibrand. ”We can think of no greater deterrent to women contemplating a military career than the image of a pregnant woman being severely punished for simply conceiving a child. That defies comprehension.” [Stars & Stripes]
This is sure to draw some controversy because the things male soldiers often complain about females in the military is the special treatment they get and this decision will be used as yet another example of this. What is ironic is that most female soldiers I know don’t want special treatment either.
6:19 am on December 26th, 2009 1
More fuel for the argument against women in combat.
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7:31 am on December 26th, 2009 2
What’s unclear to me from the article is whether it was GEN Odierno or the Secretary of the Army who bowed to the female politicians. Probably both.
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7:32 am on December 26th, 2009 3
Here is the evidence that shows why we need the W.A.C.s (Women’s Army Corp) back again.
Sometimes a man has to make a choice. Sometimes a women has to make a choice.
Sorry, some jobs in the military require you to do more than “setting behind a desk”.
I don’t believe it wrong for women to make decisions. Assuming they are able to make decisions.
Pregnant or combat duty. Pick one!
The Army caved. Why is it always the Army. Are Marine females more Professional than Army women? This would seem to be the case.
We already knew that the military women of the Navy and Air Force are more Professional than those in the Army.
It will be interesting to hear people complain of women not having the “opportunity” to serve their country because they are Pregnant.
As always, women in the Army want it both ways.
“treat me like an equal” OR
“but I’m pregnant!”
Translation: I like the job but I didn’t want to deploy to Iraq so come and get it boys. I need to get pregnant so I can get the F— out a here.
Result: Now the Unit is short one working body. Which means a MAN must pick up her work load as well as his own.
That is ASSUMING the “Queen for a Year” did any work. Some units may well be better off without her.
I remember three females I served with in my twenty years, whom I could depend on.
I served with many females that did nothing but cause trouble.
But Sergeant, my pogie hurts—-
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8:54 am on December 26th, 2009 4
Those senators complaining need a reality check. They are sooo disconnected from the military and the combat environment they are utterly laughable. But apparently no one at DA or DOD is laughing. Sad to see this kind of PC distraction getting all this attention. We have real enemies in the real world we need the real military to focus on. I guess military necessity will only be obvious to the clueless when an enemy is at their throat with a knife. Hope they can talk their way out of that then…
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12:44 pm on December 26th, 2009 5
Combat Situation on the front lines
SPC David: PFC Diana, get some more ammo for the 249B we’re running low and there is another wave of enemy assaulting!
PFC Diana: I can’t right now, I’m using my breast pump.
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2:39 pm on December 26th, 2009 6
Does the military track the redeployed women to determine how many actually give birth versus report a miscarriage?
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December 26th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I bet the Pentagon does and I bet the reports are classified double ultra top secret with a cherry on top.
I heard back in the 1980s, the armed forces commissioned a bunch of studies on whether eliminating WAC and opening many new MOSs to women was a success. Those reports concluding it worked perfectly got sent to the New York Times and other media outlets. The ones which showed to to be a failure were classified and stored away in that warehouse which holds the Ark of the Covenant from the first (and best) Indiana Jones movie
!
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December 26th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
They are called “”Military Medical Records”. But anything done Outside the military’s medical dept is unknown.
Also if they have a baby, they will clam it as a dependent and receive Additional Pay, as in a Basic allowance for Housing and an additional allowance for Food.
Depending on her Rank at the time, she could make an additional K or more. I don’t have the figures with me.
So, no dependent equals no additional pay and no living Off Base in a sweet apartment rather than a Barracks room.
The short answer is—the Army will know.
As to tracking it and coming up with statistics, I would agree with CHRIS IN DALLAS.
It would not be PC (politically correct) to show statistics indicating that females in the army are anything less than perfect, and all is going VERY well!
Remember Jesaca Lynch? She emptied two magazines into the enemy and was shot and stabbed during combat. Only problem was that she was UNCONSCIOUS from the crash while all that was going on with Soldiers that are now Nameless and forgotten. Her only injuries are from the crash.
I hope to live long enough to see the truth of all this PC deception come to light.
Unsure if I can make it to 2089.
I wish I had an army of women like the female Marine in the second Aliens.
I would have been a happy camper.
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7:19 pm on December 26th, 2009 7
“It would not be PC (politically correct) to show statistics indicating that females in the army are anything less than perfect, and all is going VERY well!”
While I have worked with many excellant female Airmen and NCOs in the military, the above comment is on target.
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6:38 am on December 28th, 2009 8
Interesting that these four wing-nut libtard democrats (sorry, I guess that was redundant)have no problem immediately stepping up and speaking out against a policy that improves national security and increases mission capability, but they have nothing but silence for the SEALs that are being court martialed for MAYBE slapping a known terrorist.
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7:38 am on December 28th, 2009 9
The New York Times has a timely follow-up article on this which of course blames men for all sexual-related problems in the warzone.
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December 28th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Hehe! Some thoughts:
1. A big theme in this article is these problems pose unique challenges in the case of deployments. I can see the point. Here is what I find strange. I’ve discussed the “punishment for getting pregnant” thing with a number of left leaning people. In that situation, they want to view it from the vantage it is no different than punishing Jane from corporate accounts getting knocked up by Steve from logistics! These people and their selective reasoning kills me.
2. I see two instances of a person of superior rank getting harassed by someone of lower rank. What is wrong with this picture?
3. Maybe I am reading this wrong, but did Captain White date a married Warrant Officer? Sure, that’s no excuse for the guy’s conduct but if White had followed the rules herself, its doubtful she would have been in the spot she found herself!
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December 28th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Hold on now, we can’t be victimizing the victim now, can we?
I wonder how many women get knocked up to get out of deployment and then get abortions.
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December 28th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Hehehe! What are they going to do, put me back in uniform and send me to Korea?
As to you question, I have a partial answer. I had one girl in my unit who we highly suspected got pregnant for the vacation benefits. To her credit, she carried the kid to term, kept it and was an otherwise decent parent. Had another one who I discovered through E4 Mafia contacts was doing lots of horizontal PT in an attempt to get pregnant to miss an on post field exercise. It wound up being irrelevant because she didn’t get pregnant and went out long enough to fake-injure herself. That is two out of 1,000 or so female Soldiers I was in regular contact with.
4:04 am on December 31st, 2009 10
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