Battling on 2 fronts, mother charged as AWOL

[sabra]

Source: Boston Globe

In a rare legal clash pitting a mother against the US military, Specialist Lisa Hayes of the New Hampshire National Guard surrendered yesterday to Army authorities after being charged as a deserter for refusing to fight in Iraq until a custody case involving her 7-year-old daughter was resolved.

The dispute, among the first of its kind in New England, underscores the tremendous strain the Iraq war has placed on the Guard and the nation's all-volunteer military, whose members often leave behind needy families and tumultuous personal lives as their combat tours are repeatedly extended.

In February, Hayes received emergency leave from her second deployment to Iraq after an alleged domestic violence incident at her former husband's house, where her daughter, Brystal Knight, was staying. As the resulting custody case moved slowly through the courts, the military ordered her back to Iraq.

Hayes didn't go.

"I'm really sad that the military is doing this to me -- and not only me, but my daughter," she said in a telephone interview from Fort Dix, N.J., where she turned herself in yesterday, daughter in tow. "I do deserve to be treated humanely, and that has not happened."


Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/06/battling_on_2_fronts_mother_charged_as_awol/?page=full

[DrDan]

1. why does she shun family values . . . what greater call does she have

than to further the bush fortune

[LeFleur1]

4. Substitute

Maybe one of the Bush girls could take her place.

[MetaTrope]

14. Or Jenna can write up her story

and get a half-million dollar advance out of it!

[RebelOne]

2. That really sucks. Be sure to vote in the survey.

[DrDan]

6. wow - over 360 who voted in the survey felt

this felonious war came before her family . . .

freepers obviously . . . what jerks

[guruoo]

7. The jerks are down to 19% now

Lisa Hayes, of the N.H. National Guard, went AWOL to care for her 7-year-old daughter,
fearing the girl might have been victim of domestic abuse. Do you think Hayes should be punished for this?

No. Her child comes first, and the military needs to understand that.
80.7%
Yes. She had a duty to uphold, and she failed to do so.
19.3%

[erpowers]

28. Family Values

It shocks me that these people try to say they have family values.

[Dhalgren]

3. "I do deserve to be treated humanely, and that has not happened."

Welcome to the club, sister. This is a terrible plight for this young mother to be in, but remember where she was supposed to be. We are bombing Iraqi neighborhoods, from the air, and killing women and children in the process - mothers and daughters and sons. The military isn't about "humanity" and neither is this government or this nation. We are about greed and conquest and domination and profit and personal gain, not "humanity". I feel sorry for this mother and her daughter, but that pity has to be shared with the tens of thousands of other mothers and daughters who are victims of the same machine...

[TexasLawyer]

5. A walking, talking advertisement

on why NOT to join the National Guard.

[exlrrp]

16. Unless youre George Bush

Bush got out of the Air Nat Guard to got to Grad School!!
Think thats as important/critical as taking care of your 7 year old daughter?
Just do what George Bush did, write and ask your superiors to give you an honorable discharge to go to Harvard Businiess school and do it WHILE YOURE ALREADY IN HBS as he did
Oh and one more thing--be the son of a Congressman! Your discharge is guaranteed and you don't even have to show up to sign it:

[Decruiter]

8. Hey Du'ers, we need to help this young woman!

I've got to sign out now, I have a very early morning, but I know there are many others of you here now that can take up the mantle, I'll help tomorrow when I can. This woman needs some phone calls to her reps and senators or whatever else you'd like to call those "congresscritters" on the hill in DC. Animals, they are, for sure.

Can we help Lisa, I'd certainly like to know so. Look at the magic DU has made happen so many times in the not so recent past.

Please can we do it again?

Peace

[Hekate]

9. KnR. Kick this idea -- to give a shout-out to the Congresscritters.

Soem things are just wrong.

Hekate

[Handsome Pete]

10. Way back in 98'...

I had a choice of re-upping for 4 more, or taking my 20 years and retiring. Thank you Bebe Jeebuz for granting me the good sense to retire. Had I stayed in, I wouldn't be allowed to make that decision today. The "stop loss program" ain't nothing but a back door draft.

I'll be praying for this lady.

[Roland99]

11. The Beast needs to be fed in blood as well as money

[Screwfly]

12. I wonder

if the ghouls supporting the Iraq war get as turn on by a female soldier biting the Mesopotamian dust as they do when a male soldier bites it.

[madrchsod]

13. Police say young boy beaten to death while parents served in Iraq

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/402831,beaten052607.article
Boy beaten to death while parents served in Iraq :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

[Bentcorner]

15. Why then did she ever join the military?

Military service is more then just getting a paycheck once or twice a month. It's a serious decision that should be given much thought before volunteering to do it.

I think it's important to remember that when this soldier refuses to deploy, someone has to go and serve in their place.

[Rose Siding]

17. She's gone twice, and circumstances with her daughter changed

Read the article, then ask yourself if yet another child should suffer through violence in the home.

snip>
Hayes joined the Guard in 2003 to get medical training so she could become a registered nurse. She served her first tour from January 2004 to February 2005 with the 3643d Security Forces, protecting dignitaries from attacks. Last August, she began a second tour as a guard at a prisoner-of-war compound. Her unit, which includes her current husband, Jonathan, is scheduled to return home in September.

In January, Hayes contacted police when she couldn't reach her daughter at the home of her former husband, Tim Knight, and said she was told that officers had gone to the home in November and December on alleged domestic violence calls involving his girlfriend.

Not wanting her daughter to live with Knight anymore, Hayes received permission to return home on emergency leave in February, so that she could seek custody of Brystal.

On March 2, Hayes won temporary custody. But the full custody hearing has not been completed and could take many more months, Hayes's lawyer said. Hayes's plan to leave Brystal with a family friend while the custody fight dragged on, so she could return to duty in Iraq, fell through when the friend said he was unable to care for the girl because of severe back problems.

[Bentcorner]

23. This is the problem with people that enlist for the wrong reasons

The article said, "Hayes joined the Guard in 2003 to get medical training so she could become a registered nurse." That was her first mistake. People should realize that enlisting in the military has certain responsibilities attached to it. It isn't something to do just to get benefits or special training.

[Rose Siding]

31. We're a long way from the perfect world you invision, my friend.

Besides, the relevant issue here is that circumstances for her child changed.

[Bentcorner]

34. I invision no perfect world. I just believe that people should be held responsible for their own

decisions. This woman chose to serve in the military. She had to have known the risks involved. I would have encouraged not only her, but any single parent from enlisting in the military.

Circumstances with her child may have changed. They often do. That's is precisely why you have to make contingency plans, especially when it involves children.

[shimmergal]

38. They've pushed military service as career training

ever since the volunteer army was started. When young people with limited job opportunities join up, whether active duty or National Guard, they're just responding to the advertising and recruting propaganda. Certainly they should think of the possible consequences before they enlist, but not everybody is going to. Do we always make reasoned decisions when we respond to advertising?

[PinkyisBlue]

18. She joined the National Guard, which traditionally has served at home, during disasters.

I believe this "war on terror" is the first time the National Guard has been sent to fight overseas. She already served one tour of duty.

It's too bad she has to choose between her child's well-being and her National Guard obligations. I, too, would choose my child.

[Bentcorner]

21. But she chose the Army over her own daughter when she took the oath of enlistment.

It's not like she was drafted or was forced to sign up. She knows that she can be called up to active duty at any time.

[blondeatlast]

22. National Guard, not Army. Big difference; many families have a parent

who enlists in the NG.

They aren't supposed to fight overseas, you see.

[Bentcorner]

24. Who told you that?

[PinkyisBlue]

35. Name one other war where the National Guard was sent to fight overseas.

The traditional purpose of the National Guard is to protect the homeland AT HOME.
She joined the National Guard, not the Army, because she expected to serve at home.

Also, some of the recruiting practices have been found to be deceitful. In order to make their quotas of new recruits, some of the recruiters have told Army enlistees and National Guard volunteers they will NOT be sent to fight overseas.

I suppose this woman's error was in trusting her government to do the right thing and to not make her choose between her child or her country for a trumped-up war based on lies. It was a choice she never should have had to make because we should never have attacked Iraq in the first place.

[Bentcorner]

36. The National Guard have been deployed overseas.

Claiming that a recruiter lied to you is not an excuse. That's what recruiters do. They lie.

[Bentcorner]

37. Vietnam, DESERT SHIELD/STORM, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo

I can remember National Guard units being in tent city with me when I was in Korea, but I guess that wouldn't count cuz there was no war going on.

[sanskritwarrior]

80. WW2

..........

and I agree with new poster. If you join, you must go where they tell you........

I'm willing to have insults hurled at me everyday by clueless DUers who do not understand the UCMJ. Not that you personally are clueless but this is about the 3rd issue like this I have waded into in the last week. Whether you are NG or Active Duty if mobilized you must deploy, if you do not you are in violation of the UCMJ. Don't want this? Fine DO NOT JOIN..........If you join the military owns you for 8 years. X number of years active, Y number of years inactive totalling 8 full years........

[MaineDem]

46. Oh please..she joined her state Guard...big difference

I appreciate that you served in the military.

From what I've read, this woman's child care situation changed. Would you prefer the child stay with the abusive parent???

The recruiters are always pushing the educational benefit of Guard service. We all know that recruiters are not always totally honest.

And welcome to DU.

[sanskritwarrior]

83. No there really isn't a big difference, people say there is, but by law there isn't......

http://www.dod.gov/execsec/adr1999/chap8.html

There you go, under this DOD release, the NG and Army Reserve are all part of the US ARMY to be called upon to fight overseas wehn needed........

[wicket]

39. My my my, things must look quite rosey from your high horse!

:eyes:

[Bentcorner]

41. I see now reason to be insulting.

[wicket]

43. I see plenty of reasons from your posts

:shrug:

[Bentcorner]

44. That just doesn't make any sense. I don't see why you would have to insult me.

[wicket]

45. If I've insulted you, then go ahead and alert on me

My point was that it's really easy to make all of these assumptions about this woman without knowing anything about her or her situation.

[Bentcorner]

50. I took the "high horse" thing to be insulting. That's why you said it.

All I've done is present the facts connected to serving in the military.

[wicket]

56. No, all you've done is make some borderline misogynist comments about a woman you've never meant

But that's obviously your MO, judging from your attack on Cindy Sheehan on your blog.

Those damn uppity women should just get back in the kitchen where they belong!!! :sarcasm:

[Bentcorner]

57. misogynist? Give me a break. The soldier took an oath.

And Yes. I don't like Cindy Sheehan. I didn't "attack" her. Then again, she doesn't like Democrats, so I guess we are even.

[wicket]

59. Of course she took an oath, but you'd rather the child stay in the abusive situation?

:shrug:

And how are you and Cindy even? In that you both don't like Democrats?

[Bentcorner]

62. When did I ever say that I wanted her child to live in an abusive situation?

She has the responsibly to make arraignments for her child if and when she is deployed. That's the way it works. She just cannot go AWOL.

Who said I don't like Democrats? I am a Democrat. I am married to a Democrat. I vote Democrat.

[blondeatlast]

19. The NG is supposed to stay on American soil--"We have to fight them there, so they don't

get us over here" is more than a phrase, it's a way to use the National Guard on foreign soil.

She's National Guard, not Army. HUGE difference--think *'s "service".

[Bentcorner]

25. The National Guard is part of the Army.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. Repeat: The National Guard is supposed to be the DOMESTIC security force

Historically, it mostly patrols during riots or cleans up after disasters.

When she joined up there was NO reason to believe that she might get sent to Iraq.

[Bentcorner]

33. That's just factually incorrect. The National Guard is part of the Army. That's why

they take the oath of enlistment just like members of the active duty Army and the reserves. This woman knew there was a possibility that she would be called up and deployed not just to Iraq, but to any other place in the world.

The National Guard Mobilization Act in 1933 made the NG part of the Army. Total Force Policy of 1973 required all active and reserve military organizations to be treated as a single integrated force. The idea is that we as a nation would not have a large standing Army.

[brentspeak]

47. No, that's not why the Total Force Policy was put in effect

The Abrams Doctrine was started not because the military brass didn't want to have a large standing army, but because 1) they didn't want a repeat of over-utilization of Active forces, like there was in Viet Nam; 2) they felt that relative inactivity on the part of the Reserve components (i.e. Army Reserve + Army National Guard) would reduce the Reserves' normal readiness and ability; and 3) they wanted to create a situation where citizens felt they were more directly involved in the war effort. This last goal refers to the historic understanding on the part of the nation that the National Guard's primary mission has always been to "guard the home front". Abrams and the others who crafted the Total Force Policy went out of their way to stress the importance of Goal #3; they acknowledged that the National Guard units are not to be looked at as simply another branch of the military, but one that also takes its orders from civilian leaders.

So yeah, the woman knew there was a possibility that she could be deployed to other parts of the world, but no one, least of all Abrams (if he was still alive) could have known that the Total Force Policy would be misused in such a way that even the National Guard would be over-utilized. (Remember part of the reason the Abrams Doctrine was created was to prevent the Active forces from becoming over-utilized).

[Doctor_J]

20. Hidden cost of war

very sad

[erpowers]

27. So Stupid

This is so stupid. The Army should have just let her stay stateside until the custody battle was over. No parent should have to leave their child in what could be an unsafe situation. I could have understood the Army going after her if she had just decided to stay home because she did not want to fight in Iraq; however, this is about her child. Hopefully nothing happens to her.

[rocktivity]

88. DING DING DING! Erpowers, you're our grand prize winner!

No parent should have to leave their child in what could be an unsafe situation...The Army should have just let her stay stateside until the custody battle was over...(T)his is about her child...

And this child is SO unsafe, she's technically an orphan!

It's not Hayes' fault that the custody case is dragging. You'd think the military would understand how slowly the mills of government bureaucracy can turn--how ARE those body armor deliveries going, by the way? Where does she go if her mother DOES go to jail or back to Iraq without full legal custody--in foster care? Talk about self-defeating.

How dare they ask this woman to leave their own child behind.

:headbang:
rocknation

[jeff30997]

29. If she were AWOL for boozing and talking dope then she would be OK.

:puke:

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. Darnit! Once again a poll fails to include my chosen response.

Option 3

The Bush Administration should be prosecuted as war criminals for invading a foreign nation under false pretenses and sacrificing the lives and family welfare of our men and women in uniform. If they hadn't engaged in such illegal and self-serving activities, Spec. Hayes wouldn't be in this situation.

[mdelaguna2000]

32. And all we hear about is sympathy for Libby's family...

I can't help but think of all the military families torn apart by this war when Libby's elite friends start spouting off about "his family."

[Limelight]

40. How dare she put her family first!

Loyalty to country above all else, the hell with whether it's loyal to you. The answer is obvious. Put your child up for adoption and get back to the war!

:sarcasm:

*shakes his head and comes to*

Oh, I'm sorry. Last night I got whacked in the head and I temporarily go off on these rants about subjects that pass for actual morality to republicans. My bad, I feel better now.

[Bentcorner]

42. But she didn't put her family first when she enlisted. She put the Army first.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

48. Did it ever occur to you that she was putting her family first by

trying to qualify for a better job, as Republicans are always suggesting? Did it ever occur to you that at the time she joined, the official line was that Iraq would soon be turned into a democracy and that the U.S. troops would be considered heroes and liberators?

The military mindset is so fucked up and absolutist.

[Bentcorner]

49. No. I don't understand people that join the military that have kids they have to take care of.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. Let me put it in simple terms:

Her husband was an abusive asshole.

She wanted a better life for herself and her daughter.

Like most women in such situations, she didn't have a lot of money.

The National Guard seemed like a way to get some training and earn extra money at the same time.

The recruiter may have told her that there was little or no chance of being sent to Iraq (and may actually have believed it himself at that time).

Now her daughter's future is at stake.

I don't have kids, and even I understand that her supreme obligation as a mother is to keep her child out of harm's way.

It is NOT HELPFUL to talk about what she should have done. The only important question is what she should do now.

In a case like this, she needs an honorable discharge on humanitarian grounds, not a court-martial.

[Bentcorner]

55. "honorable discharge on humanitarian grounds"? I'm guessing you were not in the military.

When I was in the military, single parents had to have a contingency plan on file with the company commander that stated what would happen if and when there was a deployment.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

61. No, I haven't, but what is more important in absolute terms?

Protecting her child or going to provide support for people who are conducting an illegal and immoral war in Iraq?

There's not even a question in my mind.

My fondest wish in this situation (since our lame Congress isn't doing anything) would be for mass desertions on the part of the poor shlubs who are being forced to fight this war.

And don't give me any of that standard military bullshit about "following orders." That excuse was disallowed at the Nuremberg Trials.

[Bentcorner]

69. Where in the article does it say that he child was in danger?

[Kool Kitty]

77. Obviously you have never been a single mother

wanting more for yourself and your child. This is an unfortunate set of circumstances made worse by her having to serve more than one deployment in a war that is, at the very least, illegal.

[Bentcorner]

89. Of course I haven't been a single mother..... what about the other single

mother's in the NG that made arraignments for their child? I cannot imagine how angry they would feel knowing that they chose to carry out their duty while this soldier did not. Worse, some of you here want to give her a free pass. As though you admire her for disobeying lawful orders and deserting in a time of war. I think that is really sad.

[Kool Kitty]

93. The situation is sad. This war is sad.

She's already been deployed twice, this came up on the last deployment. She shouldn't have to be sent back more than once, NONE OF THE TROOPS SHOULD.

[FlaGranny]

52. Indeed.

The military mindset is so fucked up and absolutist.

Your message

So is the conservative mind.

[alarimer]

53. She didn't join the fucking Army

National Guard- big difference. Yes it was probably an ill-advised career choice.

[Bentcorner]

54. Yes she did. The National Guard is part of the Army.

[dogday]

58. Obviously your knowledge of the military is the

explanation for your lack of understanding in matters of the heart... You can post for the military part of this equation, but there is a humanitarian side here as well that you obviously cannot comprehend... The military can take into consideration certain matters of family.. It is not always so cut and dry..

[wicket]

60. Amen

n/t

[Bentcorner]

63. Do you think the other soldiers in Iraq, the ones that don't go AWOL

don't love their children too? Think about the person that has to go in her place. I'm sure they love their kids too.

[dogday]

65. I am sure they love their families and I am also sure

they would not want their children with nobody to care for them.. That is the problem here.. There is no caregiver for this child, and the Mother needs to assert her maternal responsibility to care for the child.

I know a lot about what the soldiers feel, see my Son returned from Iraq in November, and I am sure he would agree with me on this.... No soldier would want a child of another solider not to have someone to take care of them... What? Does this child go into foster care?

How do the soldiers feel about this I wonder?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=639719&mesg_id=639719

[Bentcorner]

66. She had the responsibly to arrange someone to care for her child. Like all the other soldiers in

similar situations did. Like ones will do in the future. They cannot just go AWOL. Like she did. I read the entire article. It sounds like the Army bent over backwards to help her. They agreed to extend her emergency leave three times. She responded by going AWOL.

[dogday]

67. Did you read the article?

In January, Hayes contacted police when she couldn't reach her daughter at the home of her former husband, Tim Knight, and said she was told that officers had gone to the home in November and December on alleged domestic violence calls involving his girlfriend.

Not wanting her daughter to live with Knight anymore, Hayes received permission to return home on emergency leave in February, so that she could seek custody of Brystal.

On March 2, Hayes won temporary custody. But the full custody hearing has not been completed and could take many more months, Hayes's lawyer said. Hayes's plan to leave Brystal with a family friend while the custody fight dragged on, so she could return to duty in Iraq, fell through when the friend said he was unable to care for the girl because of severe back problems.

Man you are heartless... Didn't even comment about how the women are getting raped in the Military... Can't bear to hear your precious military is not protecting the women stationed over there?

I come from a military family... My father served 26 years in the Air Force.. I grew up on a SAC base.. My first husband has been promoted to General, he is just waiting for his slot.. My Son is in the Army National Guard. Now I am going to tell you one more time... A soldier would not want this for another soldier and would understand... Just cause you are in the military does not mean you don't have a heart... I don't know anyone who would take that view...

[Bentcorner]

68. Yes I read the article, did you?

I am not heartless. I don't know what you are referring to about women being raped. If you read the actual article (not the blurb posted here), you would know that what you say is not true.

"Leaving any unit during war is a big deal," said First Sergeant Mike Daigle.

"There's other soldiers from her unit that are still in Iraq," he said. "They're single parents. They're still there. I don't know that it's fair to them to turn the other way when somebody doesn't follow the right procedures, doesn't follow the commands of their leadership."

Sergeant Daigle is right. It's not fair to the other soldiers in similar situations. And then there is this:

As the custody case unfolded, the Guard extended her leave three times before ordering her back to Iraq. Hayes did not report for duty, and on March 25, she was declared absent without leave. A month later, that charge was upgraded to desertion, in accordance with military rules.

Here, the case gets complicated. Hayes's civilian lawyer, Linda Theroux , said she filed for an extended hardship leave, but the New Hampshire National Guard said she didn't fill out the proper paperwork and as a result Hayes's absence is considered an abandonment of her unit. Her fate is now in the hands of the US Army, which handles most AWOL cases.

It seems the Army bent over backwards for this soldier and she failed to hold up her end. At the very least, she could have filled out the proper paperwork.

[dogday]

70. Oh yes the paperwork

grow a heart....

[Bentcorner]

73. I could say the same of you for the other soldiers that have children

and still have to go to Iraq. It's stuff like this that destroys unit moral.

[dogday]

78. It's the mission that is destroying morale

Not this one soldier and her problems....

Read this article and find out what is causing the loss of morale for our troops.....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10292643

[dogday]

96. Reporting on CNN today she received an

honorable discharge.. Like I said, the military can do what it wants. Nobody wanted that child to be without someone to take care of her... Any person with family understands this.. Any person with a heart understands this, and apparently the Military understood it too....

[Kool Kitty]

71. Couldn't someone have helped her, when the saw that the

paperwork wasn't filled out correctly? Seems like this could have alleviated the problem. Sounds like the same bullshit that they are putting the other vets through-can't get their benefits, can't get their medical help, etc., because of "paperwork" issues. Seems like the convenient excuse.

[Bentcorner]

74. You mean the Army should have assigned someone to do her paperwork for her?

[MaineDem]

75. Oh how silly.

Ok, we see your viewpoint. It's clear. Thank you.

[Kool Kitty]

76. Of course not.

I don't even know what else to say to someone like you. You know damn well that's not what I meant. You are a mean one.

[Bentcorner]

90. I really don't know what you meant. Seriously. This soldier did the wrong thing.

It's not like she is the only single parent in the Army. Thousands of other single parents in the military had to do their duty while this solider gets a free pass. As though she is more important, her love for her child is more important then that of her fellow soldiers.

I think it's sad that people like you almost immediately resort to personal insults. I haven't insulted anyone here.

[Kool Kitty]

94. Self-deleted.

Pointless. The war is the wrong thing.

[newspeak]

79. you mean the responsibility?

my daughter was put in the position of re-enlisting since she was on the IRR as military police--she enlisted to change her mos into the medical field--why you ask? because IRR is being called up for our glorious war in Iraq. You keep stating she took an oath--well, my daughter takes seriously the oath of protecting and defending the Constitution--seems some higher ups also took that oath, unfortunately, they have also broken their oath. A leader's first priority is not to put your citizens (soldiers) into harms way--this is a war that was based on lies at the beginning--and as it rages, not only are our soldiers in harms way, but more and more so-called terrorists are created by our very actions. We, as Americans, are not good goose steppers (at least some of us wouldn't consider ourselves to be). Nor do many of us wish to be placed in the same situation that Germany found itself in with a war mongering nut whose goal was expansion and stealing resources.

Yes, isn't it sad that this woman joined the National Guard probably thinking that she was actually doing a service for her country--protecting within, aiding those in disasters--I wonder how she felt seeing the inhumane management of Katrina, the tornados flattening cities and fires raging in parts of the West. She's done her duty by going to Iraq, while others, like five deferment Cheney, and party hardy * had other things on their greedy little minds--they were war hawks but couldn't find the time or inclination to put their beliefs and service where their mouths are. And, yet you want to talk about this woman's oath--the care and well-being of this woman's child is more important than *'s major lying fubar war!!! The damage to military families this unnecessary war has caused is unforgivable!!!!

[Bentcorner]

91. Yes. I misspelled a word. That is not relevant to this discussion.

she enlisted to change her mos into the medical field--why you ask?

I don't remember asking.

The oath also includes the "and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice"

That includes deploying to a war zone with the rest of your unit. Even if you are having a hard time arranging for someone to care for your child.

You seem to think that the duty of the National Guard is to make sandbags during floods. Though they are often used during natural disasters here in the US, their first responsibility is war. It isn't to clean up after tornadoes or to put out brush fires.

[sanskritwarrior]

81. Didn't we have this argument the other day

The NG and the Army Reserve are part of the Army..........No matter what you try to tell me, that doesn't change the fact the NG is the Army........Oy VEY yet again DUers do not understand the military.

[sanskritwarrior]

82. I'm tired of saying this, the NG is the ARMY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Guard

[Bentcorner]

84. It's hard to discuss things when they refuse to even acknowledge

that was indeed part of the Army. Some here actually believe that it's the primary duty of the National Guard and Reserves to help in natural disasters and not fight wars.

[sanskritwarrior]

85. I know, bad TV advertising is to blame

Hope you enjoy your time here at DU, it's been frustrating sometimes as some people don't understand how the military works. And then when you kindly explin it to them, they cover their ears, and say uhuh over and over again.........You should have seen the debate over that Marine Cpl. Kokesh and how he really was still in the Marine Corps according to UCMJ.........I thought someone was going to bodily harm me for defending UCMJ..........

[Lydia Leftcoast]

86. I understand exactly how the military works:

Shut up and do as you're told, no matter whether it makes sense or not, no matter whether it's moral or not, no matter whether it gives you nightmares for the rest of your life, no matter whether it gets you mutiliated so badly that you wish were dead.

Exactly like a dictatorship, and in the past few decades, used mostly for meddling in or invading countries whose affairs are none of our business.

I have relatives who are career military. They're nice people, but totally brainwashed into neocon Republicanism and--I hate to use a Marxist term, but it seems apt here--imperialism, the idea that the U.S. has the right to run the world. When one of them spoke at his mother's funeral and said that she would rejoice to know that "democracy" had been brought to Iraq, I just about gagged.

[sanskritwarrior]

87. Stop watching movies

the military isn't like that at all.....Yes there are rules and yes you must follow them, but there are rules everywhere........I'm career military and think nothing like your "in-laws". However I do defend the UCMJ to people that don't understand it and claim to know what is going on........

[rocktivity]

64. DID she get her medical training?

Hayes joined the Guard in 2003 to get medical training so she could become a registered nurse. She served her first tour from January 2004 to February 2005 with the 3643d Security Forces, protecting dignitaries from attacks. Last August, she began a second tour as a guard at a prisoner-of-war compound...

I'm going to believe that they haven't gotten around to her medical training yet, since the alternative is believing that her train has been wasted on her being a guard what with all the war casualites.

But I'd go to jail first, too, if I were her. But though she did attempt to leave her daughter with someone, she shouldn't even have been thinking about setting one foot out of the country until the custody case was settled. When the biological father drops the ball, the biological mother is the best parent a child can have. Give her a desk job, or give her a discharge!

:crazy:
rocknation

[LisaM]

72. It's not as if she refused to serve. She went - TWICE.

Heck, Cheney got a deferment when his wife got pregnant. Maybe she should take her case to Lynne Cheney.

[erpowers]

92. Isn't That Sad

A guy got a deferment preventing him from fighting in a war just because his wife was pregnant, but a female soldier who has already been to a war zone is not allowed to stay home to resolve a custody case involving her child. I would think things should be the other way around. It is not about Cheney being a guy it is about him not having the baby.

[mantis49]

95. Related to this story,

did anyone see the piece on a veterinarian by the name of Shannon Sutherland on ABC News last night? Another sad situation.

There needs to be a provision passed to allow soldiers to be at home to fight for their children.

http://abcnews.go.com/ The item is in the videos section on the right. Titled "Troops losing custody of their children"