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Doesn’t the US military have a large enough pool of available single childless females to recruit? If you volunteer you should be combat ready and deployable. Why recruit someone with excess baggage that detracts from the primary mission of defending the country.
Basically no. When the overall national economy is strong, it becomes harder to recruit people into the military. More 'morality' waivers and all kinds of waivers are given to people with criminal records, health issues, etc in order to meet recruiting quotas.
But with the case of single parenthood, society has let go of a lot of the stigma of the past, and it's not much different than having two working parents (no one is staying home with the kid in either case).
My B.T. & A.I.T was @ ft.leonard wood, mo. It was all male. It was also all male in Germany & the states. My MOS was 12B (combat engineer). I never served along side females during my 4 yr tour.
Awesome thanks for your service.
I too had an all male BCT. AIT I had about 1/4 of the class as female soldiers. Throughout my 37+ year career I worked along side many females. When I was a 1SG I had a female captain and commander. I also had a female BN commander.
But I digress because you changed the subject from being married to having not having females serving in your unit along side you. But you are forgiven. Combat Engineers are in front of the front lines. I know because I was a communications specialist for two combat engineer units. I know how they operate. I have also served in the field artillery, mechanized infantry, infantry, movement enhancement brigade, signal company and signal battalion, horizontal engineers, vertical engineers and division support battalions forward and rear units. Kind of did just about everything.
[color="Navy"]Whatever the reason(s)the fact is that for children the most important thing is for their parents to be with them. What good is "quality healthcare" if the parents are not there when the child is sick anyway?
Excuse me I don't understand. What does a single parent do after completing basic training. Give the kid to a government day care center while they are being an Army man doing Army man (or woman) basic activities on a military base?
The same thing all working parents do. Arrange childcare while they work, as needed. Some locations have on-base childcare centers/preschools, some servicemembers use centers off-base, as there are often waiting lists. Some military spouses provide in-home care.
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What if they are deployed overseas? They can't take the kid with them
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This is where their care plan comes in. Children stay with whoever is designated. Having a care plan in case of deployment is required.
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And what if a woman becomes a single mother while deployed? Then what happens?
Care plan is in effect for anybody who is deployed. At any rate, it isn't that common for divorces to be finalized while someone is deployed, depending on state laws.
If you're asking about, "What if a woman gives birth while deployed?" Pregnancy is typically a deployment deferrment. Getting pregnant WHILE deployed is addressed slightly differently by different branches.
Last edited by TabulaRasa; 04-01-2018 at 07:29 AM..
The same thing all working parents do. Arrange childcare while they work, as needed. Some locations have on-base childcare centers/preschools, some servicemembers use centers off-base, as there are often waiting lists. Some military spouses provide in-home care.
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This is where their care plan comes in. Children stay with whoever is designated. Having a care plan in case of deployment is required.
Care plan is in effect for anybody who is deployed. At any rate, it isn't that common for divorces to be finalized while someone is deployed, depending on state laws.
If you're asking about, "What if a woman gives birth while deployed?" Pregnancy is typically a deployment deferrment. Getting pregnant WHILE deployed is addressed slightly differently by different branches.
Isn't that the truth. I will leave it at that not wanting to air any dirty laundry out.
Great post. Would have given you a rep for it but I did that recently for another great post. Thanks for the contribution. Happy Easter.
Excuse me I don't understand. What does a single parent do after completing basic training. Give the kid to a government day care center while they are being an Army man doing Army man (or woman) basic activities on a military base?
What if they are deployed overseas? They can't take the kid with them.
And what if a woman becomes a single mother while deployed? Then what happens?
They do what every other parent in the country does. They use daycare. We do have daycare centers on base but they are not free, you have to pay just as you would for any regular daycare. Some people use the base ones, some people use regular daycare in the community, some people hire a nanny, or au pair, or home daycare provider, some ask grandma for help, school age kids go to school, etc.
Military members don't work 24 hours a day, they work a normal schedule of 40-50 hours a week, like other normal Americans, and then they are home with their kids.
What a single mother does while deployed is the same as what a single father does while deployed. Why do you keep asking about mothers? There are FAR more single fathers in the military than mothers.
When you deploy (whether man or woman) the OTHER parent watches your child, or the kid goes and lives with grandma, or an aunt, or uncle, or godparent, or cousin, or whoever you want them to live with while you are gone. This is what single fathers do as well.
The military is like a normal job for the vast majority of time, with only basic training and deployments taking you away very occasionally.
If a single parent doesn't have family or a support system to watch the child while deployed, they wouldn't be allowed to join, or they would be asked to separate. If you can't come up with a written plan, you are discharged. This also applies to SINGLE FATHERS. Any single parent MUST have a plan, in writing, on file with the unit, at all times, for what will happen to their child if there is a deployment. As long as a single mom or DAD has this plan, they can continue serving. If you're in a position where you just have no one to watch your child, your service in the military ends.
Single parents often enlist in no small part as a means of providing quality healthcare for their children, and a career track that they can embark upon without necessarily having to sink time into additional schooling.
My husband and I are both enlisted.
We make $130K a year due to our enlistments, and will each retire in our 30s and get paid forever
We have free healthcare for our families which means we can take our children for specialty and preventative care that others can't always afford
We have them in excellent private schools
We have 2 GI Bills that will pay for their college and provide them with a living stipend in college. Free college for both kids!
We have a great roof over our heads and reliable safe cars, and we can pay for sports, clothing, birthday parties, pets, trips to the zoo, vacations, and everything that makes a childhood great
I only work 35 hours a week, and my husband 40 hours- this is less than many people work in blue or white collar jobs
I have a totally flexible schedule and often have lunch with my children at their school
I never work evenings or weekends like many minimum wage working parents have to do
I could not imagine providing a better life, full of more opportunities for my children
I have set an example that a woman can work and take care of herself, and doesn't have to rely on a man or government assistance. I want my children to have this example.
My husband and I have both earned free degrees, so we are educated, and this has been proven to result in more successful children
I've been separated from my children for no more than 6 weeks, but in that time they were in their home, with their father
Of course this would be more difficult if I was a single a mom, but many people make that work
This is still better than most single moms have it. Many single moms are working two or three jobs, barely have health insurance, have no college funds for their kids, section 8 housing and food stamps, food insecurity, financial insecurity, and still have to have babysitters for nights and weekends. The life I have provided by joining the military at 18 is WAY better than the life that many single moms are able to provide. Many single moms aren't able to finish college due to childcare and expenses, many need public assistance, many don't have safe/reliable cars, many struggle desperately with stress. The military provides great financial security, free college for children, free health insurance for kids that is far better than what most families have, free education for mom/dad, advancements and pay raises, and free housing, and so much more.
Why would a single parent choose to struggle through life working multiple jobs, struggling to buy groceries, avoiding routine medical care due to costs, and not having a way to pay for their kids college when there is a solution like military service?
I assume Rod Powers is the original author. Stew Smith reposted the article.
I have contacted Rod Powers, and am waiting for an answer.
I have a friend who is a single father and I know for sure he couldn't join the Marine Corps. So I'd agree with your last paragraph. This is several years ago though, so if they updated the policy, then wow.
Plus, the article says
Additionally, the military services stopped accepting single-parents for enlistment in the military because they saw the problems that long-term combat deployments caused. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, with more than 15 years of sustained combat action, the chances for single parents joining is impossible without custody transfer.
So it leads me to believe that they USED to accept single-parents with custody, but they stopped.
Lily,
I provided links from www.airforce.com and quotes from www.airforce.com that confirm that if you have given up custody you are ineligible to join, and links from the same websites that confirm that single parents can join. I literally provided proof from the AIR FORCE. I'm so sorry that random third party, old, and outdated websites have you confused. Please see the actual links from the actual Air Force.
Our regulations change frequently. For example, we didn't used to accept full sleeve tattoos, and about a year ago we started. I bet there are 100 websites that say a full sleeve tattoo disqualifies you because our Air Force marketing team can't contact every third party website and have them change info every single time we change something. We used to do credit checks on every applicant, and any derogatory credit information make you ineligible. About 2 months ago we changed to only doing credit checks on people over 23 years old or who need certain clearances, but not every third party website is updated. Basic training used to be 6 weeks, now it is 8, but many websites still say it is 6 weeks because sometimes their owners don't keep them updated, or there are old news articles that no one will update. Our age limit used to be 28, and now it is 39, but a billion websites still stay it is 28 because no one bothers to update them. We used to limit marijuana use to 15 times in your life before you were disqualified to join. We removed that limit, and now there is NO limit, but many websites still state there is a limit. People create websites, publish blogs, write news articles, and they quickly become outdated. Fake News. Please refer to www.airforce.com for the most recent info.
We put the updated information on OUR WEBSITES, so using our website is the only way to ensure you have up to date information. We can't police every website on earth, as there are countless websites and blogs about joining the military, and we change our rules all the time. We don't have the manpower to get everything updated.
Using third party websites will also have a risk that information is outdated.
Single Parents Can Join the Air Force
Giving up custody of your children renders you ineligible to join the Air Force
Then maybe talk to the owner of the site if you think they are wrong.
I know they are wrong. I will repost again the information from www.airforce.com
Here is a quote from www.airforce.com, vs a third party website:
"Transferring custody of family members for the purpose of entering the Air Force is prohibited, and renders enlisted applicants “permanently disqualified.”"
From: https://www.airforce.com/frequently-...-the-air-force
Also from www.airforce.com (vs a third party website)
"Can I join the Air Force if I have children?
Provided you are otherwise qualified, you may enlist if you are married and have legal, physical custody of up to two children who are under age 18 and incapable of self-care. You will need a waiver to enlist if:
• You are married and have three children under age 18 who are incapable of self-care.
• If you are a single parent (whether separated, divorced or common-law partner) with legal, physical custody of up to three children under 18 who are incapable of self-care.
For more information and guidance regarding your situation, contact your local recruiter."
The waiver consists of the "family care plan" I was talking about, and is extremely easy to get.
What happens in the various services when a single woman becomes pregnant while deployed?
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