Editors Note: This article first appeared on The War Horse , an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service, under the headline “These Military Moms Turned Their Homes Into Day Cares. Then DOD’s Inspectors Came Knocking.” Subscribe to their newsletter .

Julia Bardsley felt a growing dread as she toured a day care just outside the gates of Fort Gordon, Georgia, with the nine-month-old son she had never even left with a babysitter on her mind.

Three infants cried from their cribs. One baby on the floor clutched a rattle, the only toy Bardsley could see in the room. Another had pulled herself up to a cabinet and was peeling off the laminate. In the corner, a television was tuned to Judge Judy.

Bardsley didn’t feel she had much of a c

See Full Page