Does duty to one’s country trump duty to one’s family?

Lisa Pagan is a 27-year-old wife, college student and mother of two young children. After being honorably discharged in 2005 from the U.S. Army after doing her duty as a soldier, Pagan has been recalled to active duty.

Media Credit: AP

As USA TODAY reports, Pagan didn’t believe that she would be called back. “ ‘”When I enlisted, they said almost nobody gets called back when you’re in the IRR,” the IRR being Individual Ready Reserve.

Under the impression that she could get excused from her IRR obligation, Pagan told the Army that she is a stay-at-home mom and needed to be home to care for her children since her husband is often away on business trips.

The Army denied her request for a year, so she recently reported for duty—rather than risk being court martialed— with her children, to make a point. Pagan is currently on active duty, but she has a lawyer and is working to change her situation.

Pagan’s story has been raising a lot of questions. I wonder, should duty to one’s family come before duty to one’s country? Or vice versa?

Another question is, if the Army decides to excuse Pagan from her obligations and allow her family to come first then will they have to let everyone’s families come first?