Dear Lactnetters

Apparently the use of the word "weird" in reference to the Army "culture"
was a poor choice.

My husband was active duty Air Force for 24 years during which time we
traveled to various overseas locations as well as one or two stateside
assignments. Most of our overseas commitments were spent in locations
which also were inhabited by the Army. I am also currently working as the
only LC that won't be sent elsewhere at our local military hospital which
serves all branches of the armed forces. And the ARMY is the most
DIFFICULT to deal with!! For instance, Air Force occassionally funds
breast pumps the Army doesn't. And this Air Force base is not as
mother/baby friendly as others I have heard of and/or personally
experienced.

That said----the military is still an extremely male dominated culture
and often the biggest problems I have with helping moms continue to
breastfeed are related to that FACT. Husbands who think that breasts are
more for "fun" than for function. Commanders who demand extraordinary
things of active duty women who just happen to be mothers. AND female
supervisors who did not breastfeed for one reason or another making life
absolutely miserable for women who have chosen to breastfeed.

When discussing the original post re adoption/breastfeeding with my
RETIRED AIR FORCE husband, he said that the understanding he had as a
supervisor was that in time of "peace" the military must comply with the
federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Therefore, this mom should be able
to take up to 6 weeks leave upon the arrival of her adopted child.

P S ---- Our oldest adopted child will be 20 yrs old in November. When we
were informed that we had a baby and needed to travel from N Dakota to S
Dakota to pick him up, we were told by my husband's immediate supervisor
that he would not approve the leave. We simply went one step up the chain
of command where the leave was enthusiastically approved!!!! We would
have kept going up that chain as far as we needed to get approval if that
meant going to Congress. We knew we wouldn't have to go that far.

Cathy Tapey, IBCLC
Anchorage, AK
([log in to unmask])