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Soldier Mom Refuses Deployment to Care for Baby
November 18, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under News
Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, is a single mom and a U.S. Army cook who felt she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders in order to take care of her 10-month-old son.
The U.S. Army requires that single-parent soldiers submit a care plan for any dependent children before they can be deployed to a combat zone. Spc. Hutchinson planned to leave her baby with her mother, Angelique Hughes of California. Hughes cared for the baby for two weeks in October before she decided she could not keep him for a full year. Hughes already cares for her mother and sister with health problems, and a daughter with special needs. She also operates a daycare center at her home, keeping 14 children during the day.
The baby was returned to Spc. Hutchinson just a few days before she was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan.
Rai Sue Sussman, civilian attorney for Spc. Hutchinson, told reporters that one of her client’s superiors told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care.
“For her it was like, ‘I couldn’t abandon my child,’” Sussman said. “She was really afraid of what would happen, that if she showed up they would send her to Afghanistan anyway and put her son with child protective services.”
Hutchinson is presently confined to the boundaries of Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, 10 days after military police arrested her for skipping her unit’s flight. The matter is under investigation, and no formal charges have been filed at this time.
“I don’t know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it,” said Kevin Larson, spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield. “If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there’s no question she would not have been deployed.”
Spc. Hutchinson’s 10-month-old son, Kamani, was placed in custody overnight with a daycare provider on the Army post when she was arrested and jailed. Hutchinson’s mother has since picked up the child and taken him back to her home in California.
For now the deployment has been halted while the investigation continues.
In my book, this soldier mom has shown great courage in the face of an impossible situation. Perhaps all the media coverage of this incident will result in some additional support for this young soldier.
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