Posted on 03/25/2009 7:07:20 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - If it seems like a nightmare now, it started with a dream come true.
Anna Viviano got into one of the best schools in the country, and as an ROTC recruit, she didn't have to pay a penny.
"I talked to a couple recruiters and they were just like you can go to Vanderbilt for free," she recalled.
And for two and a-half years, Viviano thrived -- second in her ROTC class and a near-perfect GPA.
"I thought everything was going swimmingly -- was right on track to do what I wanted," she said.
Then came the unexpected. During a doctor's visit for allergies, she was diagnosed with asthma. Two months after that, in December 2005, she got news from the Navy.
"And that's when they told me you're being kicked out because you have exercise induced asthma," she recalled.
Not only was she medically discharged, she had to pay back what the Navy had spent on tuition for her first two and a-half years: $75,000. It was to be paid in full within the month.
"And when that didn't happen, they asked for $20,000 on top of that," Viviano said.
Three years of appeals to the Navy -- and three letters of rejection later -- 24 year-old Anna Viviano now owes $100,000.
"And it just feels like I'm yelling out there and nobody's hearing," she said. "And I hired a lawyer, thinking he's got a bigger voice but he just got drowned out just like me."
Viviano is now a graduate student at the University of Maryland. She says she is considering suing the Navy and considering filing for bankruptcy.
A Navy official says the Navy is looking into the matter but decline to comment, saying each case is different and a response will take time.
DFAS bureaucrats are utterly incompetent.
Our government at work. And yes, I can attest to similar treatment from various government agencies too.
Oh they hear...
they just don't care!
I’m pretty sure that the standard ROTC contract states that if the student cannot/does not join the military, then all tuition moneys have to be repaid. I
Absolutely outrageous. If she’d refused to take a commission and serve after graduation or gotten a bad conduct discharge that would be one thing, but for a medical discharge?!?!
Great way to look after your people there.
Need more evidence to judge innocence or guilt
Well - I’ll be the first to say she owes the Navy (we taxpayers) a refund....
She was unable to fulfill her end of the agreement..
I also suspect her “exercise induced asthma” was a precondition she couldn’t help but be aware of....
She should shut up and pay up...
We taxpayers are tapped out by being the patsy for EVERYONE....
Dude, she's married. I know her personally. Be nice; be respectful here.
I know a couple kids on full ROTC scholarship. First year, and then you drop out, no problem, you don’t have to pay it back. But if you go beyond the first year, and then drop out, you are liable for the tuition. At least that’s what they told me when I inquired how the scholarship works. I might add that a full ROTC scholarship includes room, board, tuition, books, and a stipend.
I’m pretty sure that the standard ROTC contract states that if the student cannot/does not join the military, then all tuition moneys have to be repaid.
Positive. My son went through it, and he became active his junior year. Some go through it, and never officially commit. They are responsible for payment after the first to years.
Sorry honey, but cough up the cash.
Life's tough. Wear a helmet.
L
Maybe she should have told the Navy that she wanted to go to law school and stay in the Navy. I went to high school with a guy who went all the way through college in NROTC, only to be turned down for officer’s training school because of his eye sight. He ended up a jag. I guess someone decided the glasses didn’t matter so much as a lawyer.
It looks as if the Navy did not perform their Due Diligence.
She signed the contract knowing full well what the terms were.
Sorry honey, but cough up the cash.
Life’s tough. Wear a helmet.”
Affirmative. Pay up. They gave my kid a physical every twelve minutes, and I even paid for them.
LOL.
Is her asthma really that severe that she cannot serve in the military in any capacity? Does she still desire to fulfill her obligation?
Agreed... I think that there are contractual provisions that permit a drop out after the first year (but before the second year) where you don’t have to pay for that year of college. Otherwise, you do.
They do give a lot of physicals. Hmmmmm, not sure.
She just might have a case here. Get a new lawyer.
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