Family Protest rescinding of ROTC Scholarship

[Just_A_Mom]

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 21, 2007 5:59:14 EDT

FARMINGTON, Mo. — An eastern Missouri teen thought her college tuition was taken care of when the Navy presented her with a mock check for $180,000, but the Navy has now rescinded the scholarship, saying she can’t be a ROTC student because of an old back injury.
Danielle Littrell, 18, turned down scholarships from several schools to enlist with the Navy’s ROTC program.
The Navy presented Littrell with a check for $180,000 in November, but the military later pulled the funds, citing a back injury that Littrell suffered in a 2005 basketball game. The herniated disc didn’t keep the 6-foot Littrell from playing basketball at Farmington High School last year. She also earned a black belt in karate.
Littrell will move into her dorm at Loyola University in Chicago on Tuesday, but without the scholarship funds.
“I love the school, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to continue there,” she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for Sunday’s edition.
Her mother, Lori Littrell, said the family might have to find something more economical. Loyola costs about $27,000 a year.
The ROTC program allows a student to pick a college, and Littrell hoped to go on to a top medical school after graduating from Loyola.
The program offered four years of free college in exchange for four years of service as an officer. If she qualified for medical school, the Navy would pay for that, too, and she would serve an additional two years.
At a Nov. 15 ceremony at the high school in Farmington, 50 miles south of St. Louis, four naval officers presented Littrell with the mock check. The Navy came back to the school in the spring to make another presentation.
Lori Littrell thought the Navy was using her daughter’s success to help with recruitment, but she didn’t mind at the time.
“The Navy was getting a lot of publicity out of her,” she said. “Now, in many ways, I feel Danielle was used.”
On March 16, Littrell went to Scott Air Force Base for a medical examination by a Navy doctor. She told the doctor about the old basketball injury, but said she had physical therapy and the pain was gone.
“The doctor said there was nothing to worry about,” Danielle Littrell said.
On July 19, she got a one-page letter from the Department of Defense telling her that she was not fit for duty because of her herniated disc and a “weak or painful back.”
The family protested and her orthopedist sent additional medical records to the Navy to bolster her case.
On July 30, the military said in a letter that it was standing by its decision. With college only four weeks away, the Littrells took out loans. Eric Weems, the director of financial aid at Loyola, said that if Littrell does well her freshman year she could qualify for partial-tuition scholarships next year.
Lori Littrell said her daughter never hid condition and the Navy should have acted sooner. She wants an apology and an explanation about why it took 16 weeks after the physical for the Navy to reject her daughter.
“I think at least part of her first year’s tuition should be paid,” she said.
Lt. Cmdr. Melissa Schuermann, with the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago, declined to talk about Littrell’s case. She said the Navy warns students in writing that scholarships are contingent on medical evaluations.
Schuermann said the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board, an all-forces agency based in Colorado, is responsible for determining a recruit’s medical eligibility.
Larry Mullins, deputy director of the review board, said there was no unusual delay in alerting Danielle of the rejection.

 

[kp2001]

So what's the news about this???? Sad yes, but not news worthy in my mind. There are plenty of kids who show up to the academies and are turned away at the gate, I would say that is worse than being told you're not getting your ROTC scholarship. At least she has a school to go to.

Just my 2 cents.

BTW: They also got the commitment wrong for medical school. Great investigative reporting yet again.

 

[Thunderbolt]

"There are plenty of kids who show up to the academies and are turned away at the gate, I would say that is worse than being told you're not getting your ROTC scholarship."

Can you explain to me reasons why they'd get turned away? Not including old broken back injuries (Although, I find that pretty damn rude of the navy to do that this far in the game)

 

[Zaphod]

I've heard it happen for medical reasons, either because DODMERB didn't catch something or because the applicant wasn't entirely truthful on his application.

It's rare, but it has happened.

 

[USNA69]

Tattoos, drug tests. I think the 'biggie' is that, for the sea services, it is the first time they take the FALANT color eye test. Maybe Doc could fill us in but I would categorize the occurance as rare more so than happening all the time.

 

[Thunderbolt]

In that case, if the applicant didn't disclose it, I guess it's all on them..., but I'm rather surprised that a back injury wouldn't of had been on one's medical record.

 

[USNA69]

^^^^^^It was. Read the article. They presented the 2' x'4' rubber bouncing check before she was schedulded for her DoDMERB exam. Bad move on the Navy's part.

 

[RetNavyHM]

I will not post on the above article, just remember there are always 2 sides to a story, and not all the sides are always presented. I will make a couple of general statements regarding the NROTC process, and applicants who get sent home on I/R-Day.

NROTC does not submit the applicants to DoDMERB until they have been granted a scholarship. So the applicants go through the application process, get accepted, then get the medical review. right or wrong, it is the process that NROTC (and AFROTC) use at this time.

On I/R-Day, there might be one or two applicants who get sent home due to medical reasons. I can not recall, in my 8 years of working I-Day's at USNA of any applicant getting sent home at that time for not disclosing an item on the physical examination. Most of the time it was an injury that had occured between the physical exam and I-Day that the applicant did not disclose to either DoDMERB or the admissions office. I think the best one was a young lady who showed up with a full leg cast for a fractured femur that had occured 3 weks prior.

The USNA is also getting more stringent on tattoos and piercings. I have seen multiple applicants (most of them are active duty) who have decided that they did not want the tattoos removed, and as such were sent home.

 

[Zaphod]

The USNA is also getting more stringent on tattoos and piercings. I have seen multiple applicants (most of them are active duty) who have decided that they did not want the tattoos removed, and as such were sent home.

Was it a matter of tattoo location, the subject of the tattoo, or both? Same with piercings.

Man, what a STUPID reason to throw away an appointment.

 

[RetNavyHM]

If a tattoo is visible in PT gear it needs to go away, and same with piercings. For tattoos it also depends on what it is. Gang, nudity, racial or other questionable tattos are a no no. Brandings are also a no no.

One year I watched as 2 active duty who had done a year at NAPS decide to go back to the fleet due to thier tattoos. They did not want to have them removed.

 

[Zaphod]

Thanks for the clarification. I'll admit to being surprised at the nudity restriction, though. Oh, well.

Branding? BRANDING? YUCK!

I'm curious: Does the cost of the removal fall upon the appointee? I'm assuming yes...

As for those two guys you mention, maybe it's best they didn't choose to attend. Obviously had their priorities a bit out of whack.

 

[jamzmom]

Branding? Seriously? Kids do this on purpose? Branding as in like on a cow?

I'm so glad I live in my very own special little protected world where certain things just never really occur to me.

 

[RetNavyHM]

I'm curious: Does the cost of the removal fall upon the appointee? I'm assuming yes...

You would be wrong in your assumption. The removal takes place at Bethesda, complements to the tax payers.

Branding? Seriously? Kids do this on purpose? Branding as in like on a cow?

I'm so glad I live in my very own special little protected world where certain things just never really occur to me.

Yes, branding just like on a cow. Take something red hot and stick it against the upper arm normally until the flesh burns. The resulting scar leaves the brand. Mostly seen with gang activity.

 

[Zaphod]

You would be wrong in your assumption. The removal takes place at Bethesda, complements to the tax payers.

Sigh...... Figures I'd get it wrong. This is why I'll never win the lottery.