I didn't know the army issued maternity fatigues?

[Cleita]

I just saw a very pregnant Lyndie England in what can be desribed as maternity fatigues. This really brings me up to the question of why doesn't the army relieve pregnant women of duty until they are able to return? Please let me explain. I know in our rush for equality in all things, some variables were missed. One of them is that women, not men get pregnant. If you were a general in the pentagon who had to make policy, what do you think the military should do that would be fair, but still take in this variable?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. All the branches issues maternity wear

And I am not sure a lot of those gals would want the time off. They need the $.

Too bad we don't have maternity leave like Denmark does. 15 months, I think.

[Cleita]

5. Time off would be enlightened, but do

they have any rules about pregnant women being in a combat zone at least in the last three months? I mean I hope a pregnant women doesn't have to endure combat conditions. It seems it would be a handicap for her unit and definitely for her.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. I would think they wouldn't send preggo gals there in the first place

Seems to me the ones who get in a family way while there get to leave the zone?

[erpowers]

10. Pregnant Women are Sent Home

When a women is found to be pregnant she is sent home from war. I am pretty sure England was sent home because she was pregnant and not because she got in trouble for the abuse scandal. During Gulf War I, from what I have heard, a good number of women were sent home for being pregnant. Women do not fight in combat zones when they are pregnant. I am quit sure women are sent home before that last three months and even before they being to show.

[eyesroll]

2. Lynndie England's on desk duty, right?

Plenty of women, if not most, work through their pregnancies, either until the doctor tells them not to or the baby comes.

I don't think they send pregnant women to combat zones (at least, I hope not), but I think it's fair that pregnant women can serve in desk positions. (Assuming, of course, that the military follows FMLA, ADA and other laws that say people are entitled to time off for disability -- say, doctor-ordered bed rest -- and childbirth.)

[demigoddess]

3. usually they are reassigned but since in the army etc

people wear fatigues even on desk duty, you will see maternity fatigues. I did not like it when the army went to wearing fatigues in offices and hospitals but that is a fact in our new army.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Hey, even the civilian nurses wear scrubs instead of those cute white

uniforms and caps. I really liked it nurses wore those.

[Aristus]

6. Guess Lyndie England is spending her time putting paper clips

in undignified positions, and then pointing and giving a thumbs up. "Who da girl? Who da girl? that's right, it's Lyndie, you terrorist paper clips, you!"

Bitch.

[kaitykaity]

8. Why? That would be treating pregnancy as a

disability, and that's not true at all.

Women can exercise (do PT) during pregnancy, and since
women are technically barred from the combat specialties,
they can perform their functions up until date of
delivery usually.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Being preggo was a disability for me. Both kids had me on bedrest

Still, for most gals I think they manage quite well when pregnant.

But if it was me, no I would not want to be serving in a forward area while pregnant. I wouldn't bring my newborn to war with me. No more my unborn child..

[kaitykaity]

16. I don't think women serve in standard "forward areas,"

and women have gotten pregnant in Iraq so they could
be sent home.

Iraq doesn't have traditional "front" and "rear" echelons,
but still, the US military wouldn't keep a pregnant woman
any where close to "action."

[Bandit]

9. So what will happen to this baby while it's parents spend decades in jail?

This baby was probably conceived over some torture they did to some Iraqi citizen. Now it will probably become a ward of the state. I can't imagine the torment of this child when it is made aware of the deeds of it's parents. I suspect another horror to be unleashed upon America will be born soon.

[Cleita]

12. Let's hope some responsible grandparents rise to the task.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. Rumor is that it is her fiance's, and that they conceived it in front of

some prisoners, rather than a GARP situation.

[NuckinFutz]

11. I was in the USAF during Desert Storm,

and during the conflict in Bosnia. Pregnant both times. Members of my unit were deployed to the combat locations, but I was not eligible. Toward the end of both pregnancies, I was not allowed to put in 12-hour shifts either. Actually, the BDU's(battle dress uniforms) were much more comfortable than the blue, and I was glad to have them. However, the paradox of maternity battle dress was not lost on me.

Of course, any female who has had to wear military dress uniforms knows that they were designed by someone who thought women don't move around much. The uniforms are okay for standing in formation and marching sometimes, but God help you if you have to bend over, or twist around, or even sit down. I loved my BDU's.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Do the guys find their dress uniforms as constricting?