Military families

So I read this article this morning

The article is all about a woman who doesn't report to get shipped out because she has no one to take care of her child. I think thats a perfectly acceptable way of thinking, but it should lead to a court marshall for being AWOL. However in this story it doesn't, she is discharged. It doesn't state whether its an honorable or dishonorable discharge, but that scares me. This woman was AWOL. She is pretty much abandoning her post in the military, why can she just walk away from that. They used to send people to jail for that stuff! (which they should)

Yes as a mother (or father either way) the right decision for your family is to stay and take care of them. In that case do not join the military. When you join you have to sign a contract, a military Form D-A 53-05, which dictates you must maintain a family care plan. This means that, in case you need to get shipping out, your children and any other family issues and the way you want them handled are identified. This woman didn't do that, instead she took all of the training and pay that the US military gave her and then when it came time to do her duty (and her job) she wouldn't go.

That really bothers me. I think in this case there should have been a Court Marshall or something like that for breach of duty. You cant just take pay (tax payer money) and be there until its inconvenient or scary for you. Your getting paid to do the job so freaking do it.

Although this is not rendering yourself unfit for duty I can't help but think of the ruling that woman and men would be held accountable if they got pregnant (or someone else pregnant) in war zones and whether that is an allowable rule. I think thats a military rule, but shouldn't hold any criminal charges. Dock of pay and some sort of either demotion or discharge is in order. I mean the Army is a job not something you can dictate to. You are getting paid to do this so just go do it.