ROTC and pregnency

armynurse2B

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Does anyone know how the ROTC program works if you get pregnent while you are still a CDT? I'm a junior so I still have 2 more years of ROTC i was just wondering if I would be allowed to stay in the program if I decided to have a baby? Any help would be greatly appreceated.
 
NROTC and pregnancy

This is what I find for NROTC. What I can't find is the actual CNET1533.3 section that is referred to. Everything I find skirts around it but it appears that it eludes to the fact that it is up to the PNS (Prof. of Naval Science) to make the decision. My first answer would have been no so I was actually surprised when I looked this up and found out that once you were in the program pregnancy is not a disqualifier.

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Medical Issues
Sick Call
If you are so sick that you cannot attend a mandatory evolution, be it PT, drill or naval science class, you must inform your chain of command. Once you have done this, you must report to either your university’s
clinic (midshipmen) or Military Sick Call (active duty). Those facilities will give you the appropriate documents to inform your chain of command of your status and any special restrictions.

Medical Leave of Absence (MLOA)
A midshipman will be placed on MLOA if they do not have a current DODMERB physical or are seriously ill, injured or recovering. The CO will submit to NSTC a physician’s statement setting forth the nature, extent and probable duration of the illness together with any additional information pertinent to the case. Midshipmen on MLOA do not receive subsistence pay or tuition even though they may be attending all classes and drill. In every such case, the midshipman’s physical fitness for retention in the program will be determined by the NSTC and the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) before the midshipman is returned to active status in the NROTC program. Subsistence pay, tuition and other benefits may be retroactive when the member is again found physically fit by the Commander of the Naval Medical
Command. It is the responsibility of the individual concerned to furnish the necessary medical evidence to establish his physical qualification for retention in the program. See NSTC OD4 for more information on filing claims.

Pregnancy (Female Personnel)If you are pregnant or become pregnant, see your military advisor. Depending on the timing of the due date, you will need to discuss the impact of having a baby on your class schedule. Also, your advisor will discuss the Navy’s policies on issues such as maternity leave and the PRT. Midshipmen who are pregnant will be placed on MLOA. Officer Candidates 14 follow normal Navy policies in regard to pregnancy with some exceptions. Midshipmen policies are outlined in CNETINST 1533.

A student may not be commissioned while pregnant. Following pregnancy, the student will have to take or update her pre-commissioning physical.
 
If you get pregnant after contracting they cannot boot you out because of it so don'l let anyone tell you otherwise!!
I had a baby while contracted, I am in the army side of ROTC. You are part of the military so whatever regulations they have regarding pregnant soldiers applies to you!!
I tell you this because I went through this. However, even though I was married and upfront and honest with my PMS and he actually contracted me while he knew I was pregnant. But when I looked up in the handbook about rotc and pregnancy it says if a soldier becomes pregnant while in the program they cannot kick her out because of it (not word for word but its in there)

Make sure you get the regulations! My PMS promised me he would make accomadations for me and well lets just say 3 months after having my son I started hemmorhaging again because they wouldn't let me do the alternative PT that I was suppose to be allowed to do. Any questions PLEASE send me a message I don't want anyone to go through what I did!!
 
Are you trying to decide whether to get pregnant, or are you pregnant. Although pregnancy is not a disqualifying condition for a contracted cadet, it is for an applicant/prospect. Additionally, it will obviously cause some issues. You are expected to fulfill certain obligations and meet certain standards that are difficult to attain if you are pregnant. Additionally, you are supposed to be a full time college student. What do you think the impact will be to your academic success. It's just my opinion, but this does not seem like a smart course of action to be planning to start a family while training to become an officer and working to graduate from college.

Here is what Cadet Command reg 145-1 says:

l. *Pregnant Students. *Pregnant students are eligible to compete for scholarships. *However, they are ineligible to enroll in ROTC if pregnant. *Students must be medically qualified at the time of contracting. *Pregnancy is a temporary medical disqualification. *All applicants must meet dependency requirements (AR 145-1, Chapter 3) before contracting. *Cadets who become pregnant after contracting will not be involuntarily disenrolled solely because of pregnancy.

Note it says will not be involuntarily disenrolled soley because of pregnancy. I think a pretty good counseling packet could be put together if pregnancy caused you to miss class and training, fall behind academically, and cause you to be unable to meet the physical fitness standards. Not to say a Battalion would go out of their way to disenroll a cadet just because she was pregnant, but it is definitely going to create an issue.

I am not anti female, or anti pregnancy (father of two daughters), but I can't see how pregnancy can do anything other than make this process much harder.
 
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Anyways not only is it a possible LOA issue with ROTC, a lot of nursing schools are very stingy when it comes granting medical leave....they like continuity.

Ditto with the Sir (Clarkson), they even tell you not to get pregnant or married in nursing school. However, I understand life happens sometimes and particular events can not always be controlled.
 
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Wow this is an old thread revival...notice it is over 2 yrs old.

I agree with Clarkson because unfortunately the military is looking at downsizing.

I am curious about the contracting issue and medical coverage. The cadet is contracted, but not AD, and as a dependent (college student) would be on their parents insurance. AD member would be on the military insurance. Luckily pregnancy is 9 months, and long enough to sort it out. Our DS is a 400 (MSIV) and still is on our personal insurance, because by law he is still our dependent.

I would just look into the health insurance issue because if she is not on Tri-Care, the baby will not be on Tri-Care. Plus, some personal insurance programs only cover dependent children, which means the mother, not the baby unless they can prove that the grandchild is their dependent, or the father has the ability to claim the child on his insurance.

These are things people don't think about when it occurs. Ob/Gyn is not cheap, nor are all those ped visits and shots needed within the 1st 2 yrs of life.

If pregnancy occurs, think rationally and start getting your fiscal ducks in a row.

My other issue would be LDAC or SFT or Summer cruise. If you are pregnant, I would assume this may be an issue. For AFROTC, no SFT = no commissioning. So, no they can't kick you out, but if you are pregnant in your soph yr., it will put a huge stumbling block in front of you for commissioning purposes. They can defer you to your jr yr.

The det. may also require you to fill out a family plan. This is common in the AD world for single parents. Basically, they want to know if you are deployed who will take the child and care for it during the deployment. Summer training would fall under this area because the child is your dependent, not your folks, and they are going to through you out in an area that if the baby gets ill, and needs emergency care, they need to know who will be in charge of that.

Again, another reason to start planning as soon as the emotions calm down.

As much as you may want to stay in ROTC and achieve your goal regarding commissioning, there will be other factors that will be added into the equation once the child is born.

Dakota was fortunate enough to be married, unfortunately she returned to PT too early, but ask yourself who will watch the baby at O'dark thirty when you return to PT? It is pretty hard to find any daycare giver that will take a newborn at 5:30 a.m. and if you do find one expect to pay an arm and a leg.

Is your unit in commuting difference to live at home? If not will you move back home or will you move into off campus housing? That monthly stipend even as a contracted cadet will not pay for a month of diapers or food. Will you request to be transferred to a new unit/college so you can live at home if you can't afford to stat at your college?

As I stated earlier, I don't think the question about being allowed to stay in ROTC should be your priority because the cost of the loss of a scholarship will pale in comparison compared to the cost of raising the child in their 1st 2 yrs.

Aglahad,

I can understand why they don't want students to get pregnant during nursing school, especially when in their sr. yr they must do clinicals which can wear down the avg student with no child, let alone the student that must wake up every few hours to feed or change a crying child. We have 3 kids and they ran the gamut in that issue. Oldest slept through the night at the typical 6-9 week point. Middle slept 6 hours after 4 days. Youngest was 14 months.

I could not fathom being a single mother with academics, clinicals, and ROTC with any of my 3 and doing it successfully.

I also can't fathom how I would be able to afford to do it on my own with just 500-600 bucks a month from a stipend.

I hope for armynurse2B all worked out, but as the thread is 2 yrs old, we don't know the result.
 
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Armynurse2B,

I agree with the former replies as well. While I wanted to let you know that they cannot boot you out if you get pregnant it probably isn't the best idea to try to get pregnant during your cadet years (not saying you are). Yes I was fortunate to have a lot of support and I have made it work with not a lot of issues other than PT but thats besides the point.

It is hard to get back in shape and do classes, finding childcare, and finding time to do studies. I had a very unique situation where I was clinically diagnosed infertile and so the possibilty of having children was not on my mind as I had had lots of tests done that gave me that diagnosis. If I knew I could conceive I would have waited until after school because it is hard to find time to concentrate on everything. But if you are in the situation where you or someone you know is a contracted cadet and is pregnant there are options out there to work around so you can stay in the program.

:)
 
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