Fort Stewart officials confirmed Wednesday morning that court-martial charges were filed Tuesday afternoon against Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson. 
 
 Hutchinson has been charged with four violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including missing movement, absence without leave (AWOL), dereliction of duty, and insubordinate conduct toward a noncommissioned officer, according to a press release issued by installation officials. 
 
 Hutchinson's attorney has argued the Army is being unreasonable in asking the single mother to leave for Afghanistan with the rest of her unit without suitable arrangements for her now 1-year-old son, especially after initial plans for him to stay with his grandmother in California fell through. 
 
 Army officials have countered that the soldier's deployment will be delayed until after the legal proceedings determine whether the single mother failed to make Department of Defense-required arrangements for her infant prior to deployment. 
 
 Installation officials confirmed the soldier has legal representation. In the Army, an accused soldier has the right to be represented by civilian counsel at no cost to the government, and by detailed military counsel at no expense to the accused. 
 
 
 
 Fort Stewart officials stressed that the charges are allegations, and Hutchinson is considered innocent until proven guilty. 
 
 Last month, Hutchinson was granted two weeks of leave to spend the holidays with her family in California, including her son's birthday. 
 
 In addition, command has provided Hutchinson with some alternatives for childcare if her mother remains unable to continue with the care. According to public affairs, Hutchinson has chosen not to take advantage of any of those options. 
 
 
 
 The soldier remains on duty at Hunter Army Airfield and is meeting with her attorneys in preparation for the court-martial. ||||| FILE - This undated file photo provided by Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson shows Spc. Hutchinson and her son, Kamani in Savannah, Ga. The Army filed charges Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 against Hutchinson, a single-mom... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This undated file photo provided by Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson shows Spc. Hutchinson and her son, Kamani in Savannah, Ga. The Army filed charges Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 against Hutchinson, a single-mom... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Army said Wednesday it has filed criminal charges against a single-mom soldier who refused to deploy to Afghanistan last year, arguing she had no family able to care for her infant son. 
 
 Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, a 21-year-old Army cook, could face a prison sentence and a dishonorable discharge if she is convicted by a court-martial. But first, an officer will be appointed to decide if there's enough evidence to try a case against her. 
 
 Hutchinson's attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said she still hopes the case can be settled without a military trial. She said the Army should consider Hutchinson's reason for not deploying overseas _ that she was afraid of what would happen to her baby. 
 
 "There are other routes if they really want to punish her," Hutchinson's attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Wednesday. "I don't think the situation was serious enough to warrant a criminal matter." 
 
 Hutchinson of Oakland, Calif., was scheduled to deploy from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah on Nov. 5. She skipped her unit's flight, saying the only relative she had to take care of her 10-month-old son _ her mother _ was overwhelmed by the task and backed out a few days before Hutchinson's departure date. 
 
 Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, said that Hutchinson was charged Tuesday with missing movement _ for missing her overseas flight _ being absent without leave, dereliction of duty and insubordinate conduct. 
 
 The stiffest charge, missing movement, carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. 
 
 "The charges against Spc. Hutchinson stem from the fact she didn't do her duty," Larson said. "They know their deployment dates. They have to show up. Otherwise, they have to face the consequences." 
 
 Sussman said Hutchinson was at her apartment outside the Army post when her unit deployed, but was in touch with her commanders by phone. The soldier returned to the post about a day later, she said, and was arrested. 
 
 Sussman said the soldier was afraid to show up for her overseas flight because one of her superiors had told her she would have to deploy and turn her child over to the state foster care system. 
 
 Larson said the Army would not deploy a single parent with no one to care for her child. 
 
 The decision to charge Hutchinson was far different than the Army's handling of another recent case involving a military mom. 
 
 Lisa Pagan of Davidson, N.C., was granted a discharge after she fought being recalled to the Army, under the military's "individual ready reserve" program, four years after she left active duty. 
 
 Pagan reported for duty at Fort Benning in west Georgia last February with her two young children in tow. She argued that her husband traveled for business too often to care for their children alone. While Pagan and her attorney battled the Army through appeals, she was never accused of refusing orders. 
 
 The Army requires all single-parent soldiers to submit a care plan for dependent children before they can deploy to a combat zone. 
 
 Hutchinson had such a plan _ her mother, Angelique Hughes, had agreed to care for the boy. Hughes said she kept the boy for about two weeks in October before deciding she couldn't keep him for a full year. 
 
 According to the Defense Department's latest demographic report, there are more than 70,500 single parents on active duty in the U.S. military _ about 5 percent of all service members. Nearly half of military single parents are in the Army. 
 
 Cases like Hutchinson's, where a conflict between deployment orders and parental duties lead to a prosecution, appear to be rare, said Lory Manning, a retired Navy captain a who studies how military policies affect women for the nonprofit Women's Research and Education Institute. 
 
 "There are thousands upon thousands of single parents that have deployed since the war in Afghanistan started," Manning said. "Things don't fall apart that often. Sometimes the family care plan doesn't work for whatever reason, but overall it works well." 
 
 Hutchinson's commanders granted her a leave last month so she could spend the holidays at her mother's home in California. Before that, she had been prohibited from leaving the Army post. 
 
 Hutchinson, who is assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, joined the Army in 2007 and had no previous deployments. Sussman said Hutchinson is no longer in a relationship with her son's father. 
 
 Hughes said she's already taking care of her ailing mother and sister, as well as a daughter with special needs. She also runs a daycare center at her home, keeping about 14 children during the day. 
 
 Hughes said she returned Kamani to his mother in Georgia a few days before her November deployment. 
 
 She said they told her daughter's commanders they needed more time to find another family member or close friend to help Hughes care for the boy, but Hutchinson was ordered to deploy on schedule. 
 
 Hutchinson's son, Kamani, was placed into custody overnight with a daycare provider on the Army post after she was arrested and jailed briefly in November for skipping her flight. Hutchinson's mother picked up the child a few days later and took him back to her home in California. 
 
 Hutchinson is not in custody. Sussman said Wednesday that Hutchinson's son, who had his first birthday this month, returned home with his mother to Georgia after the holidays. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Russ Bynum has covered the military based in Georgia since 2001.
– The Army has filed court-martial charges against Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook who refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she couldn't find anyone to look after her 1-year-old son. Hutchinson, 21, is charged with "missing movement" and absence without leave, among other things, reports the Savannah Morning News. Missing movement, the most serious charge, carries a maximum sentence of up to 2 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. Hutchinson says she missed her deployment because a superior had told her that her son would have to go into foster care; original plans to have her mom watch her son fell through. Hutchinson's attorney said she still hoped that a trial can be avoided. "There are other routes if they really want to punish her," Rai Sue Sussman tells the AP.