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.
LOL okay, fair enough. Truce? :D
Maybe I just shoulda said Army ROTC was hard LOL...Just teasing. If it's any consolation, my Dad's a retired Master Chief, and my brother just pinned on Captain. I'm the black sheep for being an infantry officer.
I know there were guys who shammed their way through ROTC, just doing barely enough to qualify, but there were a lot more of us who worked our asses off to be as prepared as we could when we got our commissions. I don't know if this particular midshipman was the former or the latter, though I have my suspicions.
Oh, and lest I forget - thank you for your service.
Roger
Out
BS, not all asthma starts in childhood, considering she had 2+ years into ROTC sounds to me like she developed asthma long after she was recruited.
Guaranteed student loans. Not sure about ROTC scholarship.
Yeah and Army can play football /is the sarc tag really required/
Damn - Dodmerb not DFAS - the years, the years....
Good luck.
The LadyNavyVet had good advice; I was Army, and smoothing the COC is a key issue. There is a lot of discretion, and generally “doing the right thing” is the preferred path.
My first approach would be to demand a re-test of the asthma -— it’s obviously marginal, and I bet she can pass. That’s a win-win -— the Navy gets its squid, and you avoid the $$$.
I knew several MIT AROTC guys that developed problems (one hit by a car in Boston traffic, broke his hip) along the way — I don’t believe any of them had to repay the debt — but they were dropped like a hot potato from the program.
One comment: band?!@ Rotary or nothing.
When you rolls the dice, sometimes you get a seven, sometimes you get snake eyes.
BS yourself.....
What really matters is that she can not satisfy the conditions of the ROTC program - she isn't entitled to a taxpayer funded free education....
What’s up with having to see her?
That’s how we determine guilt or innocence for women ‘round here.
I’m guilty. :)
as someone stated earlier, even if Navy restricts non seagoing personnel, why wouldnt DOD slot her into another branch that could use a qualified recruit ???
DOD runs the Navy afterall...
Sorry I haven’t been on in a few days.
Issues people have brought up:
Why doesn’t she get a student lone and pay it back? We would if we could. Student loans aren’t retroactive. You can’t get a student lone for debts you racked up five years ago in college. You get up to a certain amount per semester while in school. She is currently a grad student, and that entitles us to a certain amount per semester, but we’re using that loan money to pay for grad school. There’s no way to get more money now based on a debt from years ago. Student loans are granted to pay colleges in the present, not the past.
Was the diagnosis confirmed? She’s never gone back to a doctor about it because it was obviously correct. She has an inhaler which she now uses prior to working out. While she’s never had an actual asthma attack, the inhaler makes it easier for her to breathe.
Suing the Navy : Yes, we know this is a bad idea. What we told the newswoman was that our lawyer told us our only option if we wanted to continue fighting the debt was to sue the Navy, and he told us it wasn’t likely to work.
Bankruptcy: Not a choice we like at all, but our other option is to suddenly find a hundred thousand dollars. I’m a music teacher. She’s a student. We’re not going to find this money any time soon.
And the most common comment, that she was looking for a state-sponsored education: This was a medical discharge. Had she been hit by a van a month before graduation, the morals would be the same. Would the government have asked for money back in the event of a car accident? I don’t know, but I doubt it. The problem (in my opinion) is that asthma is a fairly undramatic disease. It seems like saying that she wussed out of the Navy because she got out of breath a couple of times.
The difference is that it wasn’t her choice. She didn’t say, “This asthma makes life hard. I shouldn’t do this.” She was told there was no choice in the matter. It’s hard for me to see this from the perspective of people who are calling her a “whiner.”
I can’t imagine a situation in which it would be ok for a person to be diagnosed with a disease, then told, “You’re on your own for college and you owe us $75k.” I know that contractual obligations have been broken, but be real here. There’s no blame to pin on anyone, just an unlucky situation for all parties.
I guess Im just not beauracratic minded enough to see why the powers that be wouldnt offer to slot her into another branch and swing the $$$ from that one to the navy...that would be a win-win, but we are talkin about government idiocy...
stay positive and try to do the 'right thing'...and dont sweat the ballbreakers if they dont have a clue as to your situation...
This seemed like a good suggestion to me, but apparently it was already tried. Anna’s supervisor at Vanderbilt tried to get transfer to a different branch, but none would accept her with asthma, apparently. This seems silly to me, as exercise induced asthma isn’t that big of a problem when managed, especially not at the level she had.
While she is not unattrative by any means, it's hard to tell from the picture. Should have washed her hair and put on a bit of makeup prior to being interviewed.
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