Sunday, December 20, 2009
Gen. Anthony (Tony) Cucolo
U.S. Army Major General Anthony Cucolo III, commander of American forces in northern Iraq, is tired of losing valuable female troops to pregnancies. So he has decreed that any soldier under his command who gets pregnant, or impregnates another soldier, may be subject to court-martial and jail time. The new policy even applies to married personnel serving together.
“I’ve got a mission to do, I’m given a finite number of soldiers with which to do it and I need every one of them,” Cucolo told the BBC News. “So I’m going to take every measure I can to keep them all strong, fit and with me for the twelve months we are in the combat zone.”
Army rules require pregnant soldiers to be sent home. Cucolo says the policy has cost his command too many soldiers with critical skills.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
U.S. Personnel in Iraq Could Face Court-Martial for Getting Pregnant (by Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes)
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