The move is seen as controversial, since military branches were pushing for 18 weeks of maternity leave. The newly announced Pentagon-wide change will bump that back down to 12 weeks, though Carter said Thursday that adjustments would be made for personnel who were already promised the 18-week period.
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In July the Navy announced that women would get 18 weeks paid maternity leave.
He said a Pentagon study concluded the USA military has a 30 percent lower retention rate for women of child-bearing age than for others in the armed forces, losing many women from the all-volunteer force because they could not manage the twin demands of child-rearing and serving in the military. The policy requires that Department of Defense-subsidized childcare development centers remain open 14 hours per day at minimum. At the time, Carter said he was waiting for the services to advise him on the subject. “We are doing everything we can to monitor the situation and work with our partners and consider our options going forward”, Cook told reporters.
Under current law, the service secretaries have the authority to adjust the amount of time on leave. He also stressed the health benefit of the extension and that a service member returning to work after the leave would be a more productive member.
Also, service members who wish to stay at the station of their choice will be able to in exchange for an additional active duty service obligation. Men worry about warzone injuries that might impair their ability to father children.
– Covering the cost of freezing sperm or eggs through a pilot programme for active duty service members. “But it’s important that commanders have flexibility here for the very simple reason you can understand, which is we’ve got to have people go where they’re needed to defend us”.
The policy change, part of the Force of the Future initiative, doubles the current maternity leave offered to women in the Army and the Air Force. The official called it a compromise among the services that was not necessary. The remainder would be spent on creating spaces at each military facility for nursing mothers.
Last November, he rolled out a series of initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining quality servicemembers.
Numerous changes are an effort to align the Pentagon with the corporate world, strengthen ties with high-tech companies and bring the best from that field into the Defense Department.
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The moves, unveiled under the banner of Force of the Future, are created to recruit and retain a new generation of troops, Carter said.
