Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III bans pregnancy.
Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III, the Army general commanding U.S. forces in northern (commands Multi-National Division-North, including Balad, Kirkuk, Tikrit, Mosul and Samarra) Iraq has added pregnancy to the list of prohibitions. The policy makes it possible to face punishment, including a court-martial and jail time, for becoming pregnant or impregnating a servicemember.
Check out my piece here at VetVoice.
Check out my piece here at VetVoice.
posted by GI Kate at 1:04 PM
8 Comments:
Probably best to not get into it at This Aint's Hell, although I see you've already posted there once. Just not worth it.
Smart policy. Just like the over-reaction against fraternization (they'll NEVER get rid of it, only drive it underground)and the policy allowing married couples to serve in the zone (excellent policy--now BOTH spouses can get blown away or come back fucked up). Oh well--Merry Xmas Kate, methinks you'll get the best Xmas gift of all in 6 days.
A general can order anything...we had soldiers who were married to each other on my deployments...In Bosnia things were OK, but in Iraq we had so many retards in command that they didn't think the married soldiers shoule even kiss each other after duty hours.
The feminist in me wants to scream sexism and the Maj. Gen. Cucolo is targeting women servicemembers, but the NCO in me is simply screaming bad leadership.
This seems to me like yet another case of knee-jerk reaction with Army leadership, and making a big deal by changing policies to a problem that seemingly does not exist.
I have no doubt that Soldiers, both women and men, do some very dumb shit to get out of deployments, but making pregnancy a UCMJ offens is just idiotic, especially because I cannot truly be enforced.
Secondly, it's a failure in leadership. It's leaders not knowing what to do, throwing up their hands and saying, "We'll just punish you for it."
Thirdly, it lowers morale, not because Soldiers cannot have sex, but because Soldiers aren't looked after. A shitty Soldier is going to be a shitty Soldier regardless of Article 15s or courts martial.
Instead, we ought to be incorporating family planning and contraception choices into sergeants' time and annual training schedules, rather than creating this policy. But, rather than doing that, this Cucolo decides to go for the easy wrong rather than the hard right.
It goes to show, though, that the military lacks the ability to think creative and "adapt and overcome," as it always preaches.
Good leadership can be found everywhere in the military, but I am sadden to say, not at the general officer level. At that level, they are mainly policy makers, and right now, they're making some pretty shitty policies.
One wonders if it would be different were it a woman in charge.
I've added your blog to my list of cool blogs on my blog site.
Good the hear from the Female Solders...the ones I worked with on my deployments were just as brave or braver than many of the dudes.
Great post Kate!
But I agree with Joe. Posting at TAH is like screaming at a wall. You will get work out and the wall won't learn anything.
Joe & Sgt. Lejeune: I know, I know. I learned my lesson.
(from a Friend of General Cucolo):
It seems ALL of you miss the point: Question: Because you can't "stop" texting while driving - Does that mean there should be no law against it? General Cucolo is a gentleman, scholar, and a WARRIOR. You'd be hard pressed to find a single soldier he's led who would bad mouth him, as his leadership skills are undeniable. To all of you "Arm Chair General's" here's some advice: It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a jerk, than open your mouth and remove any doubt.
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