[Mark Howard]

I'll chime in here. In the National Guard, we try to take care of soldiers in this situation. When a unit is notified to deploy, they are notified with a number of soldiers that the must deploy with, not specific people. In Louisiana, we use our ability to cross level soldiers among different units to help solve this situation. We also use Family Care Plans that direct single soldiers to have a plan for children in the event they deploy. During this year of deployment, we have sent home no more than 5 soldiers (out of 700) for family care issues, so the system, at least for us, is working very well. I can't speak for the active duty soldiers, but if you know deployment is a possiblity in the near future, soldiers should take precautions to prevent the situation altogether (like transferring to a different unit). Commanders are also responsible for supervising the welfare of their soldiers. If a soldier has a family care issue, his or her mind will not be on their duty. Commanders have a duty to their soldiers to monitor and assist in these situations.