Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sex in a War Zone

There is a ban on soldiers getting pregnant in Northern Iraq.
How do you keep soldiers from having sex or at least get them to use birth control? I would imagine men and women in close quarters would be drawn to each other if only for recreation. At first, the General threatened pregnant soldiers and their willing partners with courts-martial, but has since opted for letters of reprimand:
Four female and three male soldiers in northern Iraq have been reprimanded for disobeying a ban on pregnancies, but the general in charge of troops there has backed off an earlier threat of courts-martial and prison time for such cases.

Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo said less severe disciplinary action would be taken.

The four female soldiers were given letters of reprimand that will not be in their permanent military file, Cucolo told the Stars and Stripes military newspaper late Monday. So were two of the male soldiers. Read more at MSNBC
The General called his female soldiers extremely valuable:
“I can’t tell you how valuable my female soldiers are,” Cucolo said. “They fly helicopters. They run satellites. They’re mechanics. They’re medics. Some of the best intelligence analysts I have happen to be female.”