CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina mother who reported for Army duty with her two young children said Friday she is happy and relieved that the military granted her an honorable discharge.

Lisa Pagan was back home in Davidson on Friday after spending a week at Fort Benning, waiting to learn if she would be put on active duty, possibly facing a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"After I was told I could leave, my first thought was: God finally answered my prayers," she said. "I know what I did was controversial, but it was something I had to do."

Pagan had been fighting the Army since she was recalled to active duty in November 2007, saying she had no one to care for her children.

A former truck driver in the Army, Pagan was recalled four years after being released from active duty, which is allowed under the military's Individual Ready Reserve program.

Attorney Mark Waple said Pagan was discharged due to family hardship. An Army spokesman at Fort Benning confirmed Pagan was discharged Friday, but would not say what kind of discharge she received or comment on why the Army let her go.

Soldiers can appeal, and nearly a third have won permission to remain in civilian life.

Pagan filed several appeals, arguing that because her husband travels for business, no one else can take care of her kids. Her appeals were rejected.

So she reported for duty Monday at Fort Benning, Ga., with her children, 4-year-old Elizabeth and 3-year-old Eric.

Her children spent the week in an Army daycare center, while she was processed for active duty — filling out paperwork and undergoing medical tests.

But from the time she arrived, she said she believed she would be discharged.

"My commander was very supportive," she said.

Pagan is among thousands of former service members recalled after leaving duty since the Sept. 11 attacks because they're on "individual ready reserve" status, meaning they have time left on their original enlistment contracts and can be recalled at any time.

Master Sgt. Keith O'Donnell, an Army spokesman in St. Louis, has said that of the 25,000 individual ready reserve troops recalled since September 2001, more than 7,500 have been granted deferments or exemptions.

About 1,000 have failed to report, and most of those cases are still under investigation, he said.