Back in December, I mentioned the story of Blake Page, who dropped out of the United States Military Academy in December only six months before graduation to protest what he called an illegal and unconstitutional level of Christian proselytizing. In a blistering article at HuffPo, Page, an outspoken atheist, described numerous instances of unofficial and official discrimination against nonreligious cadets. He initially faced having to reimburse the Army for as much as $300,000, but was subsequently told by top West Point brass that he not only won't have to pay it, but will be granted an honorable discharge (he'd been an enlisted soldier before winning a place at the academy).
Well, late yesterday Page got an unpleasant surprise. Apparently somebody at the Pentagon wants Page to pay up.
In a memorandum dated Dec. 12, the superintendent of West Point Academy, Lt. Gen. David Huntoon, did recommend to Army headquarters that Page be honorably discharged and that recoupment — in the form of money or service as an enlisted soldier — be waived.
The response, signed by Thomas R. Lamont, assistant Army secretary, approves Page for an honorable discharge, but disapproves the waivers. In the Jan. 28 memorandum, he orders the West Point superintendent "to conduct a recoupment investigation."
"They have to provide a line by line breakdown of the costs that were incurred from (Page) being there," said Maj. Scott R. Johnson, who is a liaison with West Point at the Department of the Army.
The amount varies from one case to another. But the estimated cost of attending four years at West Point is estimated at $200,000-$250,000. The military could also order Page back to active duty.
While the Pentagon is--at least on paper--within its rights to make such a move, such a denial is highly unusual.
The Army’s move to deny the waiver — rejecting recommendations of the three-star general who runs West Point — was within its authority, but unusual enough to raise eyebrows.
"As a general matter, the secretary of the Army usually follows recommendations that come up through the chain of command," Philip Cave, a retired Navy judge advocate who practices military law in Alexandria, Va.
Cave says that when the Pentagon makes such a demand, a former cadet has little recourse. However, this is an unusual case. From the looks of it, Page has a very good argument that he was forced to resign due to illegal discrimination.
If it does get to the point where Page has to go to court, he'd have a damned good lawyer representing him--Mikey Weinstein. Page was recently hired as an assistant at Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and Weinstein said yesterday that unless the Pentagon has a really good explanation for this, he'll file a whistleblower lawsuit.
Stay tuned.