News, reactions and criticisms circulated about a policy that could make getting pregnant while on deployment an offense that may be punishable by a court martial. Later, the commander clarifies that getting pregnant, despite being listed as an “offense” in his policy, will not be punishable by a court martial.

“I believe that I can handle violations of this aspect with lesser degrees of punishment,” Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo told reporters. “I have not ever considered court-martial for this. I do not ever see myself putting a soldier in jail for this.”

There were apparently a lot of reactions received by this new order. The issue sparked a debate, with some readers totally amenable to the existence of such unusual rules in a setting such as the military, while another reader quipped that military leadership seems to have their careers above their consciences.

Cucolo, however, was apparently fully aware that such a directive would stir a certain degree of public interest, which meant that Americans will have their own opinions regarding his actions and that there will be no qualms about expressing these opinions, using such venues as blogs. “But I was also willing to deal with this attention because this is important,” CNN quotes Cucolo. “I am responsible and accountable for the fighting ability of my task force. I’ve got to take every measure to preserve my combat power, and that’s the reason.”

Cucolo shares further that as of this time, there have been eight cases of female soldiers getting pregnant while deployed under his command. Four of the female soldiers were given reprimand letters that were only placed in their respective local files, which meant that these will not be considered as a factor during promotion proceedings. There were four women soldiers who found out about their pregnancies soon after being deployed and did not actually get pregnant during the deployment; hence, no disciplinary actions were taken.

All the pregnant women soldiers, as was the policy in the military, have been sent back to the U.S. for medical care.