PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Thursday, March 27, 1997

Gay West Point grad fighting military over tuition

By STEFANI G. KOPENEC

Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) - A West Point graduate who was forced out of the military for saying he is gay may have finally won a 6-1/2-year fight with the Army, which has been trying to collect $76,000 in tuition.

A spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the Army has recommended that the Defense Department stop collection efforts against Clayce Rodamer. Lt. Col. William Harkey said he expects a decision "fairly soon."

Rodamer, 32, said he learned of the recommendation shortly before he was about to tell his story on ABC's "Nightline" Tuesday night.

Harkey said the timing was coincidental. "I know it doesn't look that way, but it has nothing to do with publicity," he said.

Rodamer said he was stationed at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, when he acknowledged his homosexuality in 1988. Superiors told him he could either resign or face a court-martial and possible dishonorable discharge, Rodamer said.

Two years after he resigned, Rodamer says he got a form letter asking him to repay the government $76,000 for the cost of his West Point education because he hadn't completed the requisite five years of military service.

With penalties and interest, that bill now is nearly $175,000, he said.

Rodamer said he has "guarded optimism" about a potential resolution in his case but realizes that others in the military might face the same problem.

"I don't want to let the military off the hook that easy," he told The Associated Press.

The Department of Defense has a policy on recovering money from soldiers who receive benefits and leave before fulfilling their military obligations, either voluntarily or because of misconduct.

"I never broke a contract with the military," Rodamer said. "They broke it with me."

Lawrence Korb, who served as assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan Administration, said the collections policy wasn't directed toward gays and lesbians forced out of the military, "but at people who try to take advantage of the system to get a free education.

"Of course, some people hit on the idea, 'Well if I say that I'm gay then they'll have to let me out,' " Korb told "Nightline."

Rodamer, who now works for a Plano wholesale computer supply company, said he admitted he was gay as soon as he realized his sexual orientation. The admission came before the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was adopted in 1993.

Before the disclosure, Rodamer said he had gotten "great reviews, top of my class, promoted ahead of his peers, all of that."

"I had been doing a great job and I really wanted to serve," he said.

Since then, Rodamer said, he has faced "major frustration" trying to resolve the issue, which was turned over to a collection agency in May.

"I've applied for a home loan, I can't get that. Any type of credit cards I've tried to get I've been denied for," he said.

"Overdraft protection, small, minimal overdraft protection for a checking account that is at a bank that I've banked with for years denied me overdraft because of this." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: