According to the Navy Times, Naval Academy midshipmen (cadets) went on a little scavenger hunt aboard the decommissioned USS Saratoga while they were on “summer cruise.”

On June 13, four Naval Academy midshipmen snuck aboard the decommissioned carrier…

And that’s when they decided to take things, according to academy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. William Marks. Gauges. A gyrocompass. Display dials.

“From what we can tell, they were overzealous about collecting cool things from a former aircraft carrier,” Marks said Monday. The mids took their appropriated souvenirs back to their yard patrol craft, where they were caught by the officer-in-charge of the YP.

The event is described as a “recon,” or “stunt.”  The Air Force Academy has similar “spirit missions.”  While all the service academies have rules against “stealing,” it is not uncommon — in fact, its sometimes encouraged — to appropriate or abscond with certain items for “motivational” reasons.

It’s unlikely, for example, that cadets get permission before they “borrow” another unit’s flag or move all of a rival service academy cadet’s furniture out into the courtyard.

It is sometimes contradictory to have such a permissive attitude in a non-permissive environment, and it occasionally lends itself to “ethical confusion,” as when a cadet “violates” a code in what is otherwise a “good faith” spirit mission or recon.

Fortunately, most of these incidents are recognized for what they are.

Marks characterized the raid as a “recon” — as stunts are often known at the academy — that went overboard. He emphasized that none of the participants had shown any “malicious intent,” in a previous interview Aug. 3.

“We looked at them,” Marks said of the four mids. “There were no prior conduct problems. They didn’t have like a big conduct record or anything.”

They were awarded demerits, Marks said.

The service academies are not merely educational institutions; they are officer training environments.  If there are mistakes to be made or lessons to be learned, that’s precisely where they should occur.