Military Sacrifice

If you felt your maternity leave was too short, and feel that your work doesn't allow you to spend enough time with your family, you should feel fortunate that you aren't in the Army. A recent article in the Washington Post (here) details some of the challenges parents that are deployed in Iraq are facing.

Those on active duty now serve 15 months overseas, and then 12 months at home. Army women who want to start families must time their pregancies to coincide with the 12 months at home, which doesn't leave much time to spend with your baby before another deployment. If you have a baby, you can only delay your deployment for 4 months.

The article shares the story of Amy Shaw who spent just 4 months with her newborn, and then was deployed to Iraq. Other than a tw0-week visit halfway through, she won't see her son again until he is 19 months old.

So beyond the poor benefits our country has for working parents across the country, it seems that our government treats those who sacrifice the most for our country even worse. Leave your baby, or leave your job.