According to what she said they’re accusing her of being an unfit parent. The family is being “tag-teamed” between the military and Child/ Family Services. CFS is threatening to take the kids away. The military is telling the husband that they could go the route of saying “get a divorce or kiss any hope of a promotion good-bye.” His faith is weak enough where the tactic seems to be working (by the best the wife can tell).
BTW: I’m going to remind her that you’re praying for her.
I am not a lawyer and this does not constitute legal advice. I used to be a military member with a skill set that included dealing with these problems.
Still (And I am trying to give practical as well as spiritual help here)-
1.) CFS is a state and local civilian agency, and they don’t work with the military branches generally. They come out when they are called by somebody. Somebody at the command could have called, but it still remains within that local or state CFS. In order for your friend to be “indicated” they have to take her to court or take action on her children then take her to court. In this case,
your friend needs a civilian attorney, NOW, because too many CFS, DCFS, CPS, what have you, in too many states are overworked, have too many kids in their care, and can be very bureaucratic. CPS can treat people very badly. An attorney puts them in their place.
2.) A military branch will not tell a military member to “get a divorce or kiss any hope of promotion goodbye”. Individual superiors in a command might do that, starting at the squadron level. It is not legal, and if there is a conspiracy, it will be denied. Her husband, with or without proof, can take it up the chain-of-command. He can request a hearing (in the Navy known as a request mast). He can kick this all the way up to the chief of staff of his branch. He can complain to the chaplain, his congressman, his senator, and even Mr. Bush,as long as he takes it through the chain-of-coomand one step at a time. In any event, it is not a matter of having weak faith. It is a matter of not being informed, or not remembering what he learned back in recruit training about the chain-of-command.
3.) And again- the military does
not supply lawyers for divorces.
4.) Under the UCMJ, her husband has to support his family, have an allotment set aside for them if need be. He can’t simply withdraw support.
5.) Things get skewed in a deployment, esp. if it is a deployment six months or over. Families don’t claim Exceptional Family Member status because it means the military member will have to get out (it used to be 18 months after approval). If there are not relationships within the spouses’ groups, or among a group of individual spouses as a sort of substitute extended family, it can be very hard on the spouse left behind.
So again- I am still praying for your friend. I hope she will avail herself of an attorney and the chaplains’ office at once. If the chaplains’ office will not help her, she needs to contact the Archdiocese for the Military Services at once. They have 48 hour turnover on email,and 24 hour turnover on phone calls.
