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Seasoned Vet
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By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A Marine gave birth aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Persian Gulf last month, marking what Pentagon officials believe is the first time an active-duty woman delivered a baby on a combat ship in a war zone.
As a rule, the Pentagon does not deploy pregnant service members to war zones. Navy regulations, which also cover the Marine Corps, require a pregnant servicewoman to notify her commanding officer no later than two weeks after diagnosis.
A Pentagon official said the Marine in this case told superiors that she did not know she was pregnant.
"She never told anybody she was pregnant," the official said. "I think she claimed she didn't know she was pregnant. The good thing was the Boxer has a complete hospital on board, so that was not a problem."
The Marine is assigned to a ground unit in Kuwait and was aboard the USS Boxer in the Gulf area when she went into labor.
Marine Corps headquarters, in response to an inquiry from The Washington Times, released a statement yesterday:
"The medical staff of the USS Boxer delivered a 7-pound baby boy on board the ship May 23 at 10:58 p.m. The mother, a 33-year-old U.S. Marine staff sergeant, is assigned to Headquarters Battery 11th Marines as an administrative chief. Mother and baby, both healthy and in good condition, were transported from Boxer to the New al Mowasat Hospital in Salmiya, Kuwait. Following a short stay, they will travel to San Diego. Names are being withheld until immediate family has been notified."
As women play a larger role in the armed forces today, pregnancy during military operations is a matter the Pentagon studies to determine whether it hurts combat readiness by leaving critical jobs vacant.
The Navy at one point in the mid-1990s experienced a 10 percent pregnancy rate for women on six-month sea tours and looked at policies to discourage pregnancies while assigned to ships.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said yesterday that she had no data on the pregnancy rate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which more than 25,000 women, out of the total U.S. force of about 270,000, were deployed.
Elaine Donnelly, director of the Center for Military Readiness, said the birth should spur the Pentagon to review its policies.
"I know the Marines are good at 'multiplying' the force, but this is ridiculous," Mrs. Donnelly said.
"President Bush should immediately request detailed information on deployability problems and evacuations due to pregnancy during the battle of Iraq," she said. "Today's Marine Corps and Navy cannot afford policies that subsidize and, therefore, encourage irresponsible behavior. This baby was born safely, despite obvious hazards, but childbirth aboard warships is not an acceptable situation."
The Navy adopted regulations in the mid-1990s that declare pregnancy compatible with military service. But the new policy also placed requirements on service members.
The regulations, updated in March, state: "The individual servicewoman is responsible for notifying her CO ... of her pregnancy as soon as possible, but no later than two weeks after diagnosis of pregnancy. This will help facilitate planning a request for replacement requisition if the servicewoman is in a sea going/deployable billet."
No service member can be assigned overseas after the 28th week of pregnancy, the policy says.
The rule is designed to protect the health of the mother and the baby.
Mrs. Donnelly said her research shows that there have been four deliveries at sea since women entered the fleet in 1978. None happened in a war zone on a combat ship. Two occurred in 1994 on support ships while in port
------------------------------------------------------------ Out of every 100 men, ten shouldn't even be there, Eighty are just targets, Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back." - Hericletus, circa 500 BC ----------------------------------------------------------- 
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Hard Charger
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quote:
Originally posted by agonyea
A Pentagon official said the Marine in this case told superiors that she did not know she was pregnant.
"She never told anybody she was pregnant," the official said. "I think she claimed she didn't know she was pregnant.
Having witnessed my wife go through pregnancy three times now, I seriously doubt that this Staff Sergeant did not know she was pregnant. Between the puking, weight gain, and overall unpleasantness, she had to have had suspicions. Even a woman with an active lifestyle and superior fitness experiences some of these conditions when pregnant.
"EBO isn't a strategy. It's a sales pitch." - Ralph Peters
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Detachment Sergeant
 
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Dang. What a waste of resources on that vessel to care for a baby and a mommy. What is our military coming to?
 ALWAYS OUT FRONT
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Detachment Sergeant
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Damn. Now I'm in trouble. My last response was SO POLITICALLY INCORRECT. When will I ever learn?
ALWAYS OUT FRONT
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President for Life
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What a load of flaming [bs][bs][bs]!!!!
She says she did not know she was pregnant!!
Did anyone see three wise men riding in from the east?
I guess she chalked up the weight gain to all that good food she was getting while deployed, and the morning sickness can be attributed to nerves of being in a combat zone.
Of course, there was no mention of a daddy, guess we have another single parent household in our military!!
Give me a break, she should be court martialed for disobeying an order.
 The Second Amendment - America's Homeland Defense All Your Base are Belong to Us 
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Keep the Peace and Be of Good Behavior
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10% Pregnancy Attrition, and people are still asking why women aren't on the front lines in direct combat roles on the ground?
Status of unit combat power would look something like this
Authorized:120
KIA: 24
WIA: 36
Preggo:12
Is this any way to fight a war???
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Regular Joe
Group: Registered User
Last Login: 9/2/2006 5:39 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by VoTrooper99
10% Pregnancy Attrition, and people are still asking why women aren't on the front lines in direct combat roles on the ground?
Status of unit combat power would look something like this
Authorized:120
KIA: 24
WIA: 36
Preggo:12
Is this any way to fight a war???
Thats great man.[LOL][LOL][LOL]
[abnwing][ger_wing][E4s]
 
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