So as of January 1st if a US soldier in Iraq gets knocked up she can't be punished?

As far as I know, that isn't true, unless she became pregnant because she was raped. Before MG Cuccolo made his order, it was already illegal for service members to have sex while in Iraq. However, back then all it would get you if caught was an Article 15 for disobeying General Order Number 1. Now, it could possibly go to a court-martial if a female intentionally becomes pregnant so she can go home early. As much as it would burst their bubbles if we stopped sending them home for pregnancy, at that point it's no longer about them and it's now about their unborn child being at risk and we have no choice but to get her out of harm's way. However, that doesn't mean she can't get her Article 15 or worse after she's back in the states and get rear-D to have her doing every single detail they can make her do within the limits of her profile until they possibly kick her out.

ADDED: It looks like the policy is getting overturned by GEN Oderino according to the news thanks to some woman's advocates who probably never spent a day in the military demanding that it was rescinded. What the advocates fail to realize is that for every female that becomes pregnant while in Iraq, another Soldier has to pick up her slack since she has to be immediately returned to the US. It's no different than a Soldier shooting themself in the foot so they can go home early. What they also failed to realize is that the policy only applied to females who became pregnant while deployed, it didn't apply to non-deployed females. The only females in the US who are punished for becoming pregnant are females who commit adultery or fraternization.

depends...my buddy and his wife deployed together, and they are catholic (no BC). So is the Army really going to deny the reproduction rights of females...no..it is posturing..a good show of it..but unenforceable. I have had females train for months and months, set up teams and help develop SOP's all in an effort to be ready to deploy and act as a cohesive unit in combat. They get pregnant, and they stay home....all that time and training gone.

Should they be held accountable by the Army...as much as it sucks and as irritating as it can be, I say no...reproducing is a fundamental right of all people and should not ever be taken from the people...soldier or not. Whats the alternative...China...forced contraceptives...birth control by inducement...none are good alternatives.

secondly, should the baby daddy be punished...for...doing what..soldiers do...patton is quoted as saying "a soldier who won't F, won't fight" It comes with the territory, you cant make em stop being humans! Also, I don't want anybody sticking their nose into the bedroom of two consenting adults. Asking a female who she is sleeping with is an EO violation. As long as fraternization policies aren't violated and they aren't married (to other people) i see no compelling government interest that outweighs the right to privacy and reproduction.

Army should dam well make baby daddy own up to his financial responsibility!

I have never seen an Article 15 for pregnancy on deployment. Remember not every female is a single chick sleeping around with random dudes. We have had many MARRIED females get pregnant by the their husbands in Iraq and neither received Article 15s. This is not a regulation to be set in stone. otherwise birth control will be mandatory and what about females who get pregnant before a deploy or field exercise? When will the government dictate when you can breed and with who? It is irresponsible for getting knocked up, but is getting hurt playing basketball, play wrestling, poking out eyes climbing fences in off-limits areas, STDs, fist fights, negligent discharges which result in injuries, suicides, AWOL while on R&R, looking a child porn which leads to a courts-martial and many of the other offenses I had to deal with on deployment.

People will have sex. Anywhere and everywhere. Military and/or civilian over there and back in garrison. The higher ups (who do it too, trust me once you saw the UCMJ convictions) have tried to ban sex since 2001. In Afghanistan they just gave up on it and said be responsible. Saying your losing manpower from babies is like saying accidental or battlefield deaths are on the same level. You would have to move all females and males away from each other to different camps/bases/FOBs to stop some of the pregnancies and there would still be sex. Even with same genders. I have seen the lengths people will go to knock boots. It is sad the military has to try to bar what people live to do naturally, but it is neccessary to maintain focus on the mission.

STEPHEN you my friend are wrong, that decision has been rescinded as of 1 Jan 2010 story is bellow, Now women who don't want to be deployed have a way to get out of the deployment with no repercussions, to me that is BULL SH!T, They (both male and female) should be forced to repay all of the COMBAT entitlements they have received up to that point, and be busted down 1 rank, that goes for both male and female, and a busting down to E-1 (from any rank) for anyone that is married and committing adultery, after all every soldiers DNA is on file so it wouldn't be hard to find out who's the baby's daddy is and charge him too (it would just take time), unless they were to hook up with a contractor or a foreign national

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. military in Iraq will scrap a policy early next year that has led to the punishment of some soldiers serving in Iraq for becoming pregnant, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said on Thursday.

General Ray Odierno said the new, Iraq-wide guidelines would take effect beginning January 1, lifting rules enacted by the U.S. commander in northern Iraq, who reports to Odierno, that laid out possible punishments for pregnancy among his soldiers.

The policy had been criticized by some women's advocates and on Tuesday four U.S. senators wrote to the secretary of the U.S. Army asking that it be rescinded.

"That will not be in my orders from January 1," Odierno told Reuters on the sidelines of a seminar in Baghdad, responding to a question about whether possible punishment for soldiers who become pregnant or impregnate other soldiers would be part of new, Iraq-wide guidelines Odierno plans to issue shortly.

According to U.S. policy now, individual commanders can issue rules on behavior for troops under their command that are more strict than those issued by their military superiors.

Major General Tony Cucolo, in charge of 22,000 U.S. troops in northern Iraq, has defended his policy, saying that he could not afford to lose soldiers to pregnancy while the U.S. military draws down its soldiers from Iraq.

Troop levels are set to fall to about 50,000 by the end of August next year, and a full withdrawal is due by 2012.

Possible punishments for becoming pregnant, or getting another soldier pregnant, ranged from an administrative reprimand to court martial, although Cucolo later made clear he did not intend to court martial any soldier who became pregnant.

His policy had been in effect since November 4. Four of his soldiers had been found to be pregnant since then. Three male soldiers involved were also reprimanded, one more seriously because he had committed adultery.

You are mistaken;

Washington (CNN) -- A new order from the general in charge of U.S. troops in northern Iraq makes getting pregnant or impregnating a fellow soldier an offense punishable by court-martial.

The directive, part of a larger order restricting the behavior of the 22,000 soldiers under Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo's command, is meant to prevent losing soldiers at a time when troop strength is stretched thin, Cucolo explained in a statement sent to the troops under his command and provided to CNN.

"I need every soldier I've got, especially since we are facing a drawdown of forces during our mission," Cucolo wrote. "Anyone who leaves this fight earlier than the expected 12-month deployment creates a burden on their teammates. Anyone who leaves this fight early because they made a personal choice that changed their medical status -- or contributes to doing that to another -- is not in keeping with a key element of our ethos."

The rule, enacted November 4, was first reported by Stars and Stripes, a military-focused publication. It prohibits "becoming nondeployable for reasons within the control of the soldier," which include "becoming pregnant, or impregnating a soldier ... resulting in the redeployment of the pregnant soldier."

Pregnancy that arises from sexual assault would not be punished, Cucolo said.

The directive applies to all military and civilians serving under Cucolo in northern Iraq, an area that includes Balad, Kirkuk, Tikrit, Mosul and Samarra, according to the Web site of Multi-National Force Iraq.

Of the 22,000 people under Cucolo's command, 1,682 are women.

Cucolo will decide what cases will be pursued.

"I am the only individual who passes judgment on these cases. I decide every case based on the unique facts of each soldier's situation," Cucolo wrote in his explanation of the new rules.

Cucolo said he considers his female soldiers "invaluable" and he wants to ensure they fulfill their deployments.

"I am responsible and accountable for the fighting ability of this outfit. I am going to do everything I can to keep my combat power -- and in the Army, combat power is the individual soldier," his statement said. "To this end, I made an existing policy stricter. I wanted to encourage my soldiers to think before they acted, and understand their behavior and actions have consequences -- all of their behavior."

In an e-mail to CNN, Cucolo stressed the rule "is just a small part of a general policy on behavior and actions," and is "lawful."

The memo outlines a long list of behaviors that are prohibited, from gambling and using drugs to behaviors that would offend Iraqis, such as entering a mosque or religious site unless "required by military necessity."

While the rules may seem unusual to some, they are not out of line with how the military regulates behavior to a much stricter degree than the general public is used to, said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale University.

"Questions of personal autonomy play out differently in the military," Fidell said.

He said the purpose of the rule is mostly to have a "chilling effect" on behavior, but he doubts it would ever be fully prosecuted. If it were, however, it appears to be legal, he said.

"If push came to shove and there was prosecution, I think the rule would be upheld as a reasonable balance of the competing interests," he said.

It is not without precedent, Fidell said. During the Vietnam War, a female troop would be discharged for getting pregnant. That rule was challenged, but the government did not want to defend it at the time.

According to the explanation of the policy that was sent to all those affected, only a few cases have been considered for punishment under the new rules. Four soldiers have gotten pregnant since Cucolo took over command of northern Iraq operations at the beginning of November, he told CNN in an e-mail. Of the eight soldiers involved, none were court-martialed. Instead, all received a written reprimand, Cucolo said.

In one case, a male soldier received the "most severe punishment," according to the explanation sent to those serving in northern Iraq. Cucolo does not give any other details about the case except to say the soldier "committed adultery as well."

Both can be punished. The General just said no more free outs. In the past we have just shipped them home and left their units short-handed. This has often been used as an easy way to get out of deployment and should be punished.

she always could, General order number 1 has been no sexual relations with anthing unless it's your spouse

You got it backwards!