Fighting ignorance... this bitch is hopeless... (long)

Gah! The crap that comes from a military life…!

The single toughest aspect of being an NCO was always dealing with the personal problems of the sailors, the ones they brought to the ship with them, the ones that adversely affected their lives and reduced their value as sailors. I’ve seen it all, from drug addicted wives, to abuse, to infidelity, to crime rings. Young men and women, away from home, most of them for the first time, with a little money in their pockets, and no clue what to do with themselves. They bring with them girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands and wives who have no idea how to adjust to the new life, most of whom are just as lost as their spouses & SOs, and they fall under the “guidance” of “older”, more “experienced” people. Most of them don’t bother to make use of Family Services, most don’t bother attending orientation, most are too proud or too clueless to admit that they’re in over their heads, and then the trouble starts. ‘Sailor’ goes on a deployment, and ‘spouse’ gets bored, or is hanging out with the more experinced wives, and things start to happen. Next thing you know, My Division Officer is handing me a letter of indebtedness, and asking what’s going on with one of my sailors, or a Sheriff’s Deputy is at the brow with divorce papers for one of them, or he’s UA, trying to deal with a run-away spouse, Or the sailor is messing around, or pops ‘positive’ on a whiz-quiz.

Keeping track of the troops is a full-time job in itself, nevermind seeing that the duties and work are properly executed. Many spouses are poorly educated, young, lonely, and scared. Some are just flat-out evil.

So, MSK: Document your case. Document it thoroughly, then call CPS. Call this woman’s husband’s command, and speak to the both the Chaplain and his immediate supervisor. Then call the Family Service Center at his base. This will do both him and the baby a world of good. With his Sup and the Chaplain breathing down his neck, he’ll have no choice but to deal with the problem, before it ruins his career, and before his child is destroyed. With Family Services on the case, he’ll have the resources at hand to deal with the problem effectively.

I can almost guarantee you that you’ll be feared and reviled for having done so (at least at first), but that’s far better than watching this continue.

FYI: the building in King Kong was The Empire State Building, located in Mid-town Manhattan. The WTC wasn’t built until the 1970’s, I think the King Kong movie came out in the 1930’s.

When were these buildings featured in the X-Files? The FBI is housed in the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building, located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The Pentagon is in Arlington, Virginia.

Oh, and be sure to call CPS.

Fuck man, there’s New Jersey transit. You can travel from Boston to DC just by Commuter train.

Erek

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Tranquilis *
**

I don’t know if anyone else read this OP, but according to the one I read, it’s not his kid. She got knocked up by the dopehead that nailing her.

Erek

Ignorance squared.
My in-laws have almost never been outside of the state of Maryland. They go to York, PA to shop occasionally. Other than that, they’ve never been anywhere. Never been to DC (45 minutes away), Philly (2 hours) or NYC (4 hours).
How can you reach your 70s, live with driving distance of the nation’s capitol and NEVER go there?

Right, but until he’s got documentary proof, as far as the Nav’s concerned, it’s his. He hasn’t divorced her, so it’s his as long as she’s his wife. He’s still paying the bills, so he’s got moral responsibiity, and someone has to claim the child, so until the State does, it’s his. The Nav’s not going to let the child go hungry if they can help it, so it’s his.

(BTW, that’s from 15 years of watching the Nav do business. I’ve been out for two years now, but I’d be surprised if anything much has changed.)

I don’t quite know where to sit on this one.

A month ago, a friend of mine’s 11 week old baby was murdered by the father. A few days later, an aquaintance of mine gave birth to a full term but critical condition bay girl who struggled for life for many days - well actually 5 days - after baby was born mum left the hospital on an overnight pass and hasn’t been back.

Tonight, I screamed - and I mean really full on screamed - at my daughters. We screamed at each other, we cried, we said awful things, we apologised, we hugged, and we all know beyond a shadow of a doubt that each of us will still get up tomorrow morning and be loved.

It’s tough being a parent MSK and some days it’s tougher than others, but what I’ve always taught my own children is that if they ever feel frightened or think that I might “lose it” then leave the house, go next door, call the police - nothing but nothing ever comes before their safety and well-being.

Sadly, most of the young children who die in my country have been reported to the Department of Community Services as “at risk”; usually they have been reported more than once.

On behalf of the mothers like myself who quite often feel that we are about to “lose it” (and most of the reason why I do not is because 24/7, there is always someone within the SDMB community who I can email or chat with in IRC or phone), but more importantly, on behalf of this child, I urge you to do SOMETHING - the only child protection agency in the US I know of is the one they refer to on “Judge Amy”.
Just do it - ring whatever child protection agency is in your state and make a report.

You don’t want to be the person giving evidence at an inquest. Mothers everywhere need people like you to be our conscience, and children everywhere need good people to intervene when we are clearly not exercising good judgement.

Just do it MSK - phone whoever you have to, but please, make sure this child is OK. Let the adults take care of themselves, but please speak on behalf of this baby.

msws & Tranq:

Even if he does have documentary proof, as far as the Navy’s concern, he’s still required to support “his dependent.” According to the MILPERSMAN (available as a link from http://www.bupers.navy.mil), a military member is required to support his dependents, to include his wife’s illegitimate child.

MSK, what a horrible burden you are carrying! I don’t envy you. I do sympathize, though and I’m keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Let us know what happens.

Z

That is good news. They are obviously do a great job of raising children.

Yeah. They is just about as good as my grammar are.

i for one would like to know what, if anything, has happened.

Yeah. Documentary proof usually is needed to avoid a requirement to pay child support after the (inevitable) divorce, although I didn’t make that part clear in my previous post. As I stated then, as far as the Nav’s concerned “as long as she’s his wife, it’s his.”

As I expected, nothing’s changed 'since I got out. It’s still his child.

Tranq: It gets even worse – even if he can prove it’s not his child, isn’t and has never been married to the mother, if he paid even ONE support payment, he’s responsible for the kid forever as far as the Navy’s concerned.

Y’all are assuming he wouldn’t want to be. Does he know it’s not his? ( prolly ) Would it matter to him? To me it wouldn’t, but I know “responsibility” is all too often a forgetten concept now a days. It’s my touchstone.

Whoa! lot’s of replies here. I have a lot of clarification to do. I will try to keep everything straight as I can, because it is a VERY confusing ordeal. The whole situation is like a Jerry Springer style soap opera mini-series. It’s easy to get things mixed up.

I guess the best place to start is with the basics and move chronologically from there. PLEASE accept my apologies for the length, but under the circumstances, it is necessary.

[li]The husband/sailor I have known for 16 years. We went to high school together. We were once very close friends, but have pretty much gone our separate ways, and aren’t on the best of terms anymore. I haven’t communicated with him in well over a year.[/li]
[li]The wife of the sailor, I have known since he and she first began dating. I have known her a possible minimum of 11 years. They have been married approximately a little over five years.[/li]
[li]The children: This woman has three children. The infant boy, is about 3 months old now. She has a two year old daughter and another son, six years old.[/li]
[li]The infants’ paternity: The woman has submitted DNA testing for the infant and should get the results soon. There are allegedly three possibilities of the father: The husband (not very likely), the druggie guy who is 39 (highly likely), and another guy who is 19 (fairly likely). The woman has told me that the “druggie” guy, if proven father, will attempt to legally litigate for custody rights, or visitation of some sort.[/li]
[li]The infants’ origin: The woman alleges that she was “taken advantage of” after partying with a group of friends and she had too much to drink and was passed out. I was not associating with her when that happened. However, I know this woman very well, and I find it ludicrous that she could have been “taken advantage of.” She is very promiscuous by nature, and I know firsthand that she is often the aggressor/initiator. (I have never been involved with her physically nor romantically in any way, and adamantly refuse to be. I won’t even shake hands with her.)[/li]
[li]Female’s character history: very promiscuous. Openly has admitted to her family, friends, and I, to having had multiple affairs. The paternity of her older two children remains unknown, but presumably, only the girl is the sailor’s child. No DNA testing has ever been performed on the older children. She did not have any children prior to her present (and only) marriage. Although she is “wild” she, herself, does NOT do drugs or use marijuana.(at least not to my knowledge). She does drink rather occasionally, but not habitually, and not while caring for the children.[/li]
[li]I have never met, nor seen, the alleged “druggie” father. What I know of him, is only what she and her sister have told me about him. His drug of choice is marijuana, which is what he allegedly has been smoking in the infants presence. The “druggie” currently has NO legal rights of any sort to be involved with the child. She allows him to visit and has apparently allowed him to baby-sit the infant as well. She assumes (without proof) he is the father, and has some looney idea that this gives him “rights” without any current legal actions. She claims she doesn’t even LIKE this guy, but yet she keeps allowing him to visit her and the baby, and allowing herself to go out with “druggie.”[/li]
[li]The sailor, upon initially receiving the news of her most recent pregnancy, and the affairs she has had, allegedly attempted suicide, with a knife, while serving at sea, but was apprehended by fellow sailors who stopped him. This would be his second suicide attempt to my knowledge. At first he did not want to have anything to do with the infant. I’m not sure where he stands now on that issue.[/li]
[li]None of the children are being physically, or verbally abused, to my knowledge, nor show any symptoms or signs of such. The two year old daughter is in care of the woman’s parents the majority of the time. Her parents are pretty decent people, but they are not social or friendly at all. Her parents and I do not even speak to one another. I have no idea why. If I say hi to them they just ignore me. I theorize that they think their daughter is boinking every man she can, and assume that includes me, which it does not.[/li]
[li]The infant receives medical care, and physician checkups on a regular basis, and as needed. She never hesitates to seek medical attention for the infant. I know this for a fact.[/li]
[li]She has recently admitted to me that she is “falling in love” with me. I have stopped visiting her because of many reasons, but this one takes the cake. I have repeatedly told her I am not interested, even to the point of being brutally honest and mean. She seems to “block it out” though. I no longer accept her telephone calls. The only communication I currently allow is via instant messages, which I am archiving completely if needed for any kind of “proof.” She hasn’t resorted to anything “stalker-like,” but remains a moderate nuisance. I refuse to associate with her outside of instant messaging, and even that I have to cut-off often when she gets out-of-line. :eek:[/li]
The most recent news I have is that they are getting a divorce. I don’t know if anything legal is in the works yet, but it looks pretty certain at this point that it will soon. It’s also a possibility that the sailor may seek custody of the two eldest children.

The WTC is used in place of the Empire State Building in the 1976 theatrical version of King Kong starring Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin. Look here for more info: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0074751

BTW: The original King Kong, with with the ancient stop motion animation effects of Willis O’ Brien and Ray Harryhausen still, to this day, is a thousand times better looking than that 1976 cheap piece of crap Hollywood made.

I have seen the Pentagon featured in several episodes of the X-Files. Unfortunately, I can’t offer the episode titles/numbers for you.

Here’s some stuff I wanted to toss in just to illustrate more of her ignorance…NONE of the following has anything to do with baby or the children.
[li]She used to call me on the phone and ask me to look up numbers in the telephone book, because she was too lazy to get her fat ass up off of the sofa, walk ten feet across the room, and look in her own phone book. She was too busy watching soaps on tv and stuffing her face with junk food.[/li]
[li]She wastes anything and everything. One day I was over and she wanted to get a stain out of the carpet. She had a very expensive spray can of carpet cleaner. It cost like 12 or 13 dollars, it was brand new. She asked me if I knew how to use it. I told her, “read the directions”…she threw the can of cleaner away and never used a drop of it, just because she was too lazy to read the directions on a can of carpet cleaner! She can read, but just doesn’t want to.[/li]
[li]Every time she moves to a new apartment, she either throws out, or gives away, most of the furniture and electronics, instead of moving it to the new place.[/li]
[li]TMI…A long time ago, she, her sister, and I had just left a convenience store. We hadn’t walked anymore than about 50 yards, when she pissed her pants, just because she didn’t want to walk back to use the restroom. eeeeeewwww[/li]
About two months ago, she asked me to drive her to Target so she could buy her 6 yr old boy some shoes. I knew she would give me gas money, and it was a worthy cause, so I said okay. I took her to Target, and we weren’t in the shoe department any more than four minutes at most, when some very creepy looking guy walks up and says to her, “Excuse me, are you ‘Jane Doe’?” I stood there stunned as this guy, whom she JUST met, called her by name, and then puts his arm around her. I was furious! She used me as her fucking taxi so she could go meet some guy from the internet, without telling me beforehand. I wouldn’t have taken her if I knew she was going to be whoring around. I almost left her there. I really wanted to, but as much as I dislike her, I wasn’t going to be responsible for having left her alone if that guy had tried to do God knows what to her. I’m not that cruel. She might deserve something like that if that’s how she wants to live, esp’ being unfaithful to her husband, but she isn’t doing it on my time. I have refused to take anywhere since.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Kinsey *
**

When I lived in southern New Mexico, I had a date with a very well-educated, attractive woman who never, ever ventured more than 60 miles from Las Cruces in her life. El Paso, Juarez, Las Cruces … that was it. Apparently, lack of travel and exposure to the “outside world” is quite common among many natives in the Las Cruces area.

Was she drunk? Was it that she just couldn’t hold it anymore and it came out? Or did she really consciously decide the walk back was too tiring and let loose in her pants?