Motherhood in the Military

Motherhood and the Acceptance of Mothers in the Military

Being a mother in the military has always had controversy. Some believe that mothers should refrain from this violence and stay in civilian life to raise her child, while others believe that it’s a woman’s right to choose this career. Kara Dixon Vuic’s article “ “I’m afraid we’re going to have to just change our ways”: Marriage, Motherhood, and Pregnancy in the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War” examines female nurses in the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam war who helped pave the way for wives and mothers to be more integrated into the Army. In comparison, Michelle L. Kelley’s (et al.) article “Navy Mothers Experiencing and Not Experiencing Deployment: Reasons for Staying in or Leaving the Military,” is a survey on the many reasons why navy mothers would chose to leave or stay in the army. Together, both articles focus on the role that motherhood plays in the military.

To begin, Vuic’s main purpose for this article was to present a chronological study on how the army struggled to incorporate new changes for wives and mothers during the Vietnam War. The Army Nurse Corps only wanted single women with no dependants but they had to change their policies during the Vietnam War because women were marrying younger and wanted to have children. The Army Nurse Corps could not afford to discharge their nurses on the basis of marriage and motherhood. Vuic looks at how the Army had to incorporate changes because gender roles at the time were changing and had to be reflected in their policies of marriage policies, motherhood and pregnancy policies, birth control, and abortion regulations.

Kara Dixon Vuic is a historian and a professor at High Point University and has a Ph...

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...a combined seven times within her article. As an unpublished source, there is a risk that the information that she is quoting is flawed. This can make one wonder about the credibility of her other sources.

In conclusion, “ “I’m afraid we’re going to have to just change our ways”: Marriage, Motherhood, and Pregnancy in the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War” and “Navy Mothers Experiencing and Not Experiencing Deployment: Reasons for Staying in or Leaving the Military,” both contribute to a better understanding of motherhood in the military. It is surprising the lack of scholarly articles written on the subject. These articles are recommended for any study on the role that mothers play in the military because they provide interesting research. Now in the military mothers have more opportunities and they have proven that they can balance careers and motherhood.