Tag Archives: hazing

Marine Grog, Sailor Wogs, Soldier Spurs… Hazing?

While elements of things some call “hazing” are supposed to be removed from the military, some traditions seem to survive in the Marine Corps Mess Night, among other places:

During the multiple course dinner, Marines can call out each other for infractions, whether comical or serious. Marines guilty of infractions are “fined” and must then pay and small fee, usually about three dollars, and drink from the “grog”, a mixture of liquids, the elements of which are a mystery. The evening continues with amusing skits enacted by predetermined groups.

The Navy Times frames the Navy’s anti-hazing efforts as awkward to the point of being ineffectual, noting that being sprayed with a fire hose is only hazing if the water pressure is too high, for example. The Navy even officially released Read more

US Marines Officially Define Hazing

One of the recurring questions during the recent controversies over military hazing has been what, precisely, is hazing?  While some may think it should be obvious, the nature of the military environment — and the need to explicitly enforce a regulation — make it far less so.  Now,

The new Marine Corps policy now defines hazing as “any conduct whereby a military member or members, regardless of service or rank, without proper authority causes another military member or members to suffer or be exposed to any activity which is cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning or harmful.”

The Patriot Perspective makes some interesting distinctions:

Exposing a Marine to “cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning or harmful” acts with the purpose of making a correction means that a Marine might be saved from being kicked out, from poor Read more

Did Army Haze Airmen in Spur Ride?

An official military article notes three US Air Force Airmen went through the trials necessary to receive their “cavalry gold spurs.”  To do so, they had to complete a “spur ride.”

The participants formed up outside the Bagram [MWR] and performed a 12-mile ruck march throughout the base. Upon returning…, they dropped their gear and began the various stations that were set up to test their skills. The stations were moderated by Army instructors, referred to only as “Spur Holders.”

“The stations consisted of [weapons] proficiency, M2 headspace and timing, Self Aid and Buddy Care, 9-line Med Evac, Unexploded Ordnance identification, Nine-line UXO, gas mask procedures, land navigation and convoy signaling,” said Longoria.

“Before, during and after each station we would be quizzed by the Spur Holders. Then we were PT’ed until we were physically exhausted. Read more

Hazing and the US Military

Jeff Yang of the Wall Street Journal, writing in the “Arts and Entertainment” section, notes “unsettling parallels” between recent implications of hazing and the 1992 Tom Cruise/Jack Nicholson A Few Good Men.

The wandering article touches on religion, race, discipline, and the recent suicides of servicemembers thought to be related to hazing, as with PVT Danny Chen in Afghanistan.

The article closes in citing the ironic participation in hazing by members of military academies — while simultaneously demanding their subordinates recite “Schofield’s Quote,” which denounces Read more