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I saw initiations and I saw hazing. At times it is hard to separate the two. There was a time when a lot of life in the military was about the initiations.
I was packed with grease, at a time and place when nearly all sailors got packed with grease.
When my dolphins were tacked on, there were others whose tacking was much worse. They had clearly made enemies and it was a place where that was expressed.
My E5 / Second Class tacking was not bad.
My E6 / First Class tacking got skipped completely [as I checked into my new duty station the results had just been released, the first desk I checked into looked it up for me. He advised me to delay checking in until I got my new rank sewn onto my uniform, so when I walked into my new division they would see me as a First Class and not realize that I had only put it on that morning. It worked].
'Blue nose'; check
'Shellback'; check
Order of the Ditch; check
Order of the Rock; check
Does any of it serve a useful purpose? I do not know.
Hazing may be: cruel, abusive, oppressive, or harmful; and as such is illegal. Not to say if it is good or bad, it is simply illegal. the same as sodomy was illegal for many decades.
Actually, it had three prongs per rank and of course you had both sides hit so it is six scars (at least it was for everyone I know/knew). Then there were the ones that became infected and often people of color had more significant scarring or developed keloids.
I went through it (and no, they didn't take it easy on me because I was a female!) and perversely there was indeed a feeling of pride, but that doesn't mean that I want any others to go through it.
When I got promoted, only the 1st Sgt. and CO got to pound the chevrons into you. Everyone else had to settle for punching you in the arm.
Actually, it had three prongs per rank and of course you had both sides hit so it is six scars (at least it was for everyone I know/knew). Then there were the ones that became infected and often people of color had more significant scarring or developed keloids.
I went through it (and no, they didn't take it easy on me because I was a female!) and perversely there was indeed a feeling of pride, but that doesn't mean that I want any others to go through it.
Air Assault has 3? I really can't remember do not even have the scars for it. But yes, going through scar tissue sucks.
Well, in the British Forces we didn't/don't have hazing or initiations as such when you join and during your training. In the 70s and early 80s (my brother joined in 1980) you used to get some which was closer to physical abuse and this would tend to be instigated by the instructors and carried out by the recruits. There were several suicides in the mid 80s that were picked up on by the media and the public reaction was enough to force the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to stamp down on it and several instructors were discharged and a few imprisoned.
There have been a few cases over the last 10 years or so but the Military Police have a specialist unit that deals with these cases and they have a reputation for being very hard on anyone they investigate. The British Armed Forces are very anti-bullying and in the end, that's what it was. There are some rituals and traditions that regiments/units have when people pass certain points and that is fine as everyone goes through it, it is a point of honour and respect from your peers, these are good. Hammering someone that fails once if it effects the unit is not good but acceptable but twice?.. three times?.. four?.. more? No, not in any way.
With regards to do i think it builds unit cohesion and comraderie? No, it doesn't.
Having fun and choosing someone to be the brunt of the jokes for a day is fine, it does build teamwork to an extent but the 'target' needs to change often so there is no persecution. It is very easy for it to escalate and very difficult to stop it once it does.
In the end your training serviceman that are there because they want to be, they're already motivated and want to be the best they can be, or a least they should do. They not a bunch of 13yr old boys who need to 'entertain' themselves or be 'entertained'.
I and my fellow recruits were trained by being treated with respect and encouraged to respect each other and especially to respect/fear our instructors.
It worked for me and for many of the soldiers that joined me over the years.
Honestly, i am not a fan of hazing. In the AF, we punched new promotees. I dont like getting punched. Luckily i am big man so at the punch line, i told folks that I do punch back so i was lightly tapped. My reasoning is that retaliating for what happened to you is never the answer...most importan, how is this team building? Team building occurs through much better means, which is why, i lightly tapped arms at promotion. I chose to mentor those vs punch.
Air Assault has 3? I really can't remember do not even have the scars for it. But yes, going through scar tissue sucks.
No, I am speaking of Rank which have three prongs. We caught the 'ceremony' for every Rank, so yes, it did go through scar tissue ( different configurations for a couple of the ranks.
Btw, I haven't heard the name 'Momotaro' since I was a child- takes me a l-o-n-g way back...
I remember getting my rank punched on in the navy, and also punching others, it was fun and I remember before being promoted that I couldnt wait to get there! These were not hard punches and did not hurt.
I did see some guys with black and blue arms because others didnt like them too much and they used this as punishment, and that to me was wrong and illegal. Simply tapping your shoulder like most did made me feel like I earned the rank.
The military is becoming way too sensitive. Glad I got out when I did.
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