# West Point Cadet Quits Senior Year in Protest



## Marauder06 (Dec 5, 2012)

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...uits-cites-criminal-behavior-of-officers?lite




> A West Point cadet publicly announced his decision to quit the prestigious military academy just months before graduating to protest what he sees as the illegal infusion of military procedures and events with fundamentalist Christian proselytizing.
> To call attention to his move, senior Blake Page wrote a scathing commentary on West Point, published Monday in the Huffington Post.
> Countless officers here and throughout the military are guilty of blatantly violating the oaths they swore to defend the Constitution," wrote Page, who was slated to graduate in May. "These men and women are criminals, complicit in light of day defiance of the Uniform Code of Military Justice through unconstitutional proselytism, discrimination against the non-religious and establishing formal policies to reward, encourage and even at times require sectarian religious participation."


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## Teufel (Dec 5, 2012)

Granted, instructors shouldn't tell students to go to attend religious activities.  That being said, it's a bit extreme to quit because of it.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 5, 2012)

Yeah, there is usually a whole lot more to the story than this.  Probably some sour grapes in there somewhere.


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## DA SWO (Dec 5, 2012)

Attention Whore, hope he enjoys Afghanistan.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 5, 2012)

He's going to get off scot-free, no way the Army or West Point is going to want the drama of that PR nightmare.  "Prisoner of conscience forced to fight illegal war in Afghanistan."


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## DA SWO (Dec 6, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> He's going to get off scot-free, no way the Army or West Point is going to want the drama of that PR nightmare. "Prisoner of conscience forced to fight illegal war in Afghanistan."


Say another story where he was discharged, seems he became ineligible (medical condition) for a commission/Military Service, hence the Drama Queen exit.


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## digrar (Dec 6, 2012)

Dad committed suicide last year and he's suffering depression and anxiety, medical discharge. Which begs the question, what's with the resignation letter?


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## Chopstick (Dec 6, 2012)

Why would anyone want to serve with/under him?  He will go off and write his book now.  He has had his 15 minutes.


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## RackMaster (Dec 6, 2012)

Bah!  I'm not any where near religious but I completely enjoyed my time at services while I was in.  Especially during training, it was never "pushed" on you and if anything it was a moment of rest during days of crazy.


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## Totentanz (Dec 6, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Yeah, there is usually a whole lot more to the story than this. Probably some sour grapes in there somewhere.


 
While I don't know the totality of the situation the whole resignation-after-being-told-he-wouldn't-commission* move sounds very much like a "fired? no, I quit"/"well I didn't want to be an officer anyway" tantrum.

While there may be some teeth to what he's saying about religion on campus, his words lose some creedence due to the fact that while he took action along the official channels, he only felt the need to make such statements and his resignation once he had nothing to lose.

* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...oint-cadet-quits-over-religion_n_2247067.html, paragraph 2.


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## reed11b (Dec 6, 2012)

Totentanz said:


> While I don't know the totality of the situation the whole resignation-after-being-told-he-wouldn't-commission* move sounds very much like a "fired? no, I quit"/"well I didn't want to be an officer anyway" tantrum.
> 
> *While there may be some teeth to what he's saying about religion on campus, his words lose some creedence due to the fact that while he took action along the official channels, he only felt the need to make such statements and his resignation once he had nothing to lose.*
> 
> * http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...oint-cadet-quits-over-religion_n_2247067.html, paragraph 2.


This X a billion. The Military DOES have a problem with proselytizing and with not being as neutral politicaly as it should be. That said, I'm not the least bit sad to see this guy go.
Reed


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## Marauder06 (Dec 6, 2012)

He's going to transfer to a big-name school with all of those credits paid for on the American Peoples' dime,  and one semester later -bam- he's a grad with no service obligation and probably no college debt.  There are probably already a bunch of Ivies drooling over getting someone in to help make the military look bad.


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## 104TN (Dec 6, 2012)

I'm glad the little punk isn't leading Joes. F' him.

Chapter his @ss and let him pay back Uncle Sugar for his education.


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## DA SWO (Dec 7, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> He's going to transfer to a big-name school with all of those credits paid for on the American Peoples' dime, and one semester later -bam- he's a grad with no service obligation and probably no college debt. There are probably already a bunch of Ivies drooling over getting someone in to help make the military look bad.


Most schools will make him take 30-35 hours before getting his degree, so he may have to fund a full year.  
My guess is he get a VA Disability (50% for 5 years).  Eventually he will have to look himself in the mirror.


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## CDG (Dec 7, 2012)

SOWT said:


> Eventually he will have to look himself in the mirror.


 
Sadly, this as a form of self-punishment seems to have less and less applicability to current society.


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## Scotth (Dec 7, 2012)

Good to get rid of him but they should collect the cost of his eduction back from him.  Will they?  Probably not, like Mara said they would just rather make the problem go away.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 7, 2012)

I don't think they can, and he may in fact be saving the Army money.  Kind of buried under the attention-getting headlines of him quitting in protest is the fact that he was going to be able to graduate, but not commission, because of some medical condition or other.  Typically, I don't think cadets get booted when they become med-disqual'd in their senior year.  So by quitting, he might actually be saving a semester's worth of room, board, etc. for the Army.


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## policemedic (Dec 7, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> He's going to transfer to a big-name school with all of those credits paid for on the American Peoples' dime, and one semester later -bam- he's a grad with no service obligation and probably no college debt. There are probably already a bunch of Ivies drooling over getting someone in to help make the military look bad.


 
I know at least one where he won't be welcome....


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## ThunderHorse (Dec 9, 2012)

Let me qualify that I didn't attend West Point so when I saw the article he wrote I was amped about someone trying to expose something or talk trash about the place.  Why, it's a college rivalry thing and the fact that I work with so many West Pointers.

I opened the article, read it and found myself going WTF is this guy on, tell me something I don't know.  Many of the people I work with knew him personally, last year he was going to be kicked for grades but apparently he got them back up.  If I missed 30 classes where I went to school I would have been marching in a circle with a rifle for a very long time, but apparently getting in trouble at the Point these days requires grievous actions.  This kid is a whacko...starting an IG investigation, let's be serious the military overall is relatively religious so people will be allowed to do things such as worship and attend religious retreats.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 15, 2013)

Latest twist:  he may have to pay up after all.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16966278-army-wants-outspoken-west-point-cadet-to-pay-up




> An Army cadet who left West Point just months shy of his graduation to make a high-profile protest of religious proselytizing at the school now faces Pentagon demands that he repay the cost of his education — either through active-duty service or by paying as much as $250,000.
> The notification this week that he would be hit up for the fees blindsided Blake Page, 24, who says that top leadership at West Point assured him that "recoupment" of costs for his taxpayer-funded education would be waived when he left the school in December.


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## Chopstick (Feb 15, 2013)

> Meantime Page, who now lives in Minnesota, is finishing up a certification program to work as a personal trainer. He's also written a book about his experiences, which he hopes will generate some revenue.
> Asked what will he do if the military sends him a bill for $200,000, he responds: "File for bankruptcy, I guess."


Ha! Told you he would write his book. However I dont think too many people want to read about such a loser.


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## Ranger Psych (Feb 15, 2013)

Marauder06 said:


> I don't think they can, and he may in fact be saving the Army money. Kind of buried under the attention-getting headlines of him quitting in protest is the fact that he was going to be able to graduate, but not commission, because of some medical condition or other. Typically, I don't think cadets get booted when they become med-disqual'd in their senior year. So by quitting, he might actually be saving a semester's worth of room, board, etc. for the Army.


 
Erm, yes, they can and will.

Depending on where you quit even in ROTC it's either pay the F up in cash, or enlist and "work it off".

I had a guy in my platoon at 3/75, who was going into his junior year and basically decided that being an officer wasn't for him. Military? yes... but the whole officer bit just didn't suit him.

So, he enlisted to pay it back, came to Regiment, ended up doing 6 years, shitton of deployments, and is now out.  Great Ranger, just a personal decision he made knowing the consequences.


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## Teufel (Feb 16, 2013)

We had guys at the academy who were kicked out and had to enlist to pay back their education.  They don't always do that though, it's case by case.


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## Ranger Psych (Feb 16, 2013)

Granted, I haven't undergone it.... but between a past ex-fiance who quit in her freshman year on Marine ROTC (then I quit her since I don't dig quitters) and the Ranger I mentioned above, I think that it's always an option provided you're still eligible for service. They told her she had to pay up or sign up. Told the Ranger the same thing.

This guy's DQ'ed and as such he's GOING to pay it back. period.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 16, 2013)

Ranger Psych said:


> *Erm, yes, they can and will.*
> 
> Depending on where you quit even in ROTC it's either pay the F up in cash, or enlist and "work it off".
> 
> ...


 
If you are going to quote my post and dispute what I said with a smart-ass remark, then dispute in the correct context.  




> I don't think they can, and he may in fact be saving the Army money. Kind of buried under the attention-getting headlines of him quitting in protest is the fact that he was going to be able to graduate, but not commission, because of some medical condition or other. Typically, I don't think cadets get booted when they become med-disqual'd in their senior year. So by quitting, he might actually be saving a semester's worth of room, board, etc. for the Army.


 
I was referring to the cadet in question, who was being denied a commission because of a medical drop.  Usually they can't recoup on a guy who can't commission through no fault of his own.  If you quit or get tossed out, it's a different story.  If he would have stayed in school, he would likely have graduated and not been commissioned, with no service obligation and no recoupment efforts.  The guy in the example you provided presumably didn't get med-boarded out, or else he never would have been able to be a Ranger.


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## ThunderHorse (Feb 25, 2013)

In regards to quitting in ROTC...if you're on a four year ride...you get the first year to make the choice.  In regards to a three year scholarship I'm unsure.  But a two year and one year you obviously don't get a choice of leaving it without paying up.


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