This article features British troops but I wonder what the stats are for American service women?

Is it fair for a woman to be able to leave her duty station because she is pregnant? Is it fair for the service to ask women serving in the field to use birth control?

As anyone who has served in the military can tell you, when you are serving your body does not belong to you and is instead government property. For instance, getting a sunburn so bad that it interferes with your job while off duty can mean disciplinary action against you. So there is precedent for requiring birth control.

So, what do you all think?

AT LEAST 133 Brit servicewomen have been sent home from Afghanistan and Iraq after getting pregnant.

The Daily Star Sunday has learned 102 of Our Girls returned early from Iraq between January 1, 2003 and February 28 of this year because they were expecting.

And at least 31 female squaddies were fl own home from Afghanistan for the same reason.

Of those, 50 returned early from Iraq or Afghanistan between April 1, 2007 and February 28, 2009.

A total of 5,600 women have been sent to war so far and the Ministry of Defence admitted there may be even more cases which have not been recorded.

Pregnant women cannot be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, nor can they go to sea in the Royal Navy.

The shock numbers were released by the Ministry of Defence after a Freedom of Information request by the Daily Star Sunday.

Some will have become pregnant before leaving Britain and others while on their mid-tour two-week rest and recuperation break.

But many will have conceived by romping while on operations – potentially breaking forces’ rules.

Sex between servicemen and women in Iraq or Afghanistan could lead to misconduct charges if it caused a drop in military effi ciency.

Some observers say sex on tour could not be stopped. Charles Heyman, editor of the British Army Guide, said: “The average age on operations will be between 21 and 23 and at that age there will be lapses.”

There are 17,620 women in the forces, making up 9.4% of the total.

But critics have long argued they are physically weaker than men and that sexual tension would upset small units.

Women are currently banned from infantry units and any role where they would “close with and kill the enemy” – as well as from submarines and several diver roles.

Yet women have fi lled more front-line jobs than ever before in Iraq and Afghanistan, including combat medics, fi ghter and helicopter pilots.

Female Harrier pilots have bombed the Taliban in Afghanistan while in Iraq, medic L/Cpl Michelle Norris became the first woman to win the Military Cross after braving sniper fire to save her shot vehicle commander.

The two wars have also claimed the lives of six forces’ women.

An MoD spokesman said: “All our forces are expected to behave within the Armed Forces Code of Conduct. “If women become or discover they are pregnant on operations they are returned to the UK at the fiist opportunity for their own wellbeing and to preserve effectiveness.”
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/80115/Army-girls-caught-in-battle-of-the-bulge/

Of course it is fair. Get the expensive military school, while being paid. Get to the duty station, get laid, get pregnant, go home.

After all, it is all about the baby, not the mother.

A bunch of young men and women, hormones in high gear, and throw in the closeness of camaraderie and gosh! I can't imagine why such a thing would happen.