Just-in-Time Female Condition Alert!

Daily Mail Online, 20th December 2009 - Serving U.S troops could face prison if they fall pregnant while active

Major General Anthony Cucolo, who runs US operations in northern Iraq, issued the new orders because he said he was losing too many women with critical skills. All troops under his command are covered by the extension to the military’s legal code – the first time the US Army has made pregnancy a punishable offence. Court martial for pregnancy is not an Army-wide policy but division commanders have the authority to impose such restrictions, a Pentagon spokesman said. Under the new policy, troops expecting a baby face court martial and a possible prison term – and so do the men who made them pregnant.

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Can the U.S. NAVY really afford to be so far behind any longer? Unfortunately, the simple answer may actually be YES. Although history underscores (see chart below) the seriousness of the NAVY's problem, the NAVY has become so politically correct (female submariners slated) and JAGged-up (see Note 3 below) these days that SecNav Mabus and his fawning surface flags will probably ignore Gen. Cucolo's pragmatic decision. How interesting is such a low expectation posture for a branch of the military service already under severe pressure?

Chart source. (all above are skimmers, remember).

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Lawyers, as anticipated, say Cucolo's policy raises serious ethical questions. What else would they say?

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'Here you really have issues that go to the core of personal integrity: reproductive rights,' said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School and is president of America’s National Institute of Military Justice.

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[Note: When M.E. was in the USN, one could not even get married without the Navy's permission. Of course, the core of personal integrity in those days were merely your contract with the Navy and, above all, your oath to serve your country].

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Submarines do not need to be any stranger for crews; yet, coed crews promise to make them just that.

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Submarines are always silent and strange.

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NOTES:

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1) -PREGNANCY - current Navy policy (as of 1994) removes a woman from her ship in the 20th week of pregnancy. Navy estimates between 1989-1990, 5% of women on ships were pregnant at any given time. The Navy requires that women return to their ships to complete their sea duty no later than four months after delivery. Navy pilots are grounded during pregnancy due to unknowns about the risk to the fetus. [source]

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2) -ANNAPOLIS - Male and female midshipmen wear virtually the same uniform and must fulfill the same requirements with the exception of some adjustments on the physical tests. According to 2 Navy reports issued in 1987 and 1990, male midshipmen resented female midshipmen because they were not expected to face combat. [ibid]

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3) - 2009 - First Known Case of Pregnant Naval Academy Graduate The U.S. Naval Academy reportedly graduated its first pregnant midshipman in May, even though school policy dictates women are not supposed to marry or begin families before completing their studies source