By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GEORGIA, United States – The United States Army will not seek prosecution of Specialist Alexis Hutchinson for failing to report for duty. Hutchinson, a single mother, could not find a person to watch her son before her deployment to Afghanistan began. Instead of deploying with her unit, she stayed and cared for her son.

Hutchinson entered the Army directly out of high school.  The twenty one year old rose to the position of Specialist within the Army.  She was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan with her unit in November.  As a single mother, Hutchinson made plans for her mother to watch and care for her son before she was deployed to Afghanistan.  The day before she was to leave, Hutchinson’s mother informed her that she would be unable to care for the child.  Hutchinson then informed her commanding officer of the situation.  She was told she had thirty days to arrange for an alternate plan.  However, her brigade’s deployment was pushed up.  Hutchinson was then informed that she had twenty four hours to find somebody to watch her son.  Instead of deploying, Hutchinson stayed behind to care for her son.

Hutchinson was arrested for not deploying with her unit.  She was charged with four court-martial counts: being absent without leave, missing a movement, dereliction of duty, and insubordinate conduct.  If  she was prosecuted and found guilty of the offenses, Hutchinson would have faced two years in prison.  However, her case was settled before heading to trial.  Hutchinson received an other-than-honorable discharge from the Army.  She was also demoted from a Specialist to a Private and will not receive military or veterans benefits.

Currently, there are approximately eighty-five thousand single parents in the United States armed forces.  Ten-thousand single parents were deployed overseas last year.  The Army requires single parents to have a family care plan on file.  The file is to be updated when changes occur.  The plan outlines who will care for the child during long deployments, drills, and annual trainings.

For more information, please see:

NY TIMES–Single Mother Is Spared Court-Martial–11 February 2010

San Francisco Chronicle-Army discharges single mother who won’t deploy-11 February 2010

NPR–Soldier Mom Arrested After Refusing to Deploy–19 November 2009