Blood rank. Did you do it, did you get it? Was it wrong?

I would get my "blood" stripes all over again!

I appreciate the tradition of it. However, I don't agree with the times where someone gets the rank repeatedly pounded into their collars over and over again so everyone gets their turn at "promoting" the Soldier.

"oh, these are a bit crooked...let me just re-position these for you...again"

In a different time and in a different place, I received blood rank once, upon promotion from E-3 to E-4. My First Sergeant and NCOs didn't let it get out of hand, but it's easy to see how it could have. At the time, I felt like I had undergone a right of passage as it were, and I was proud of that. This was in a Field Artillery Headquarters and Services Battery, back before the integration of females into FA BNs, so there were no EO or sexual harassment considerations at play yet. I thought little more of it.

As COL Charles Williams points out however, traditions and rights of passage are lame-assed excuses for doing stupid stuff, such as walking the gauntlet following the pinning-on after a promotion. I've heard those can get way out of hand; yet even a seemingly innocent, PG-rated variation of that tradition is enough to get an excellent Commander relieved for cause if someone takes offense and files a formal complaint. 1SG Dave Arpin can attest to this, as he was First Sergeant while I was XO when someone made a formal complaint of a "gauntlet ceremony" taking place within one of our platoons following formation. Now, our version of the Gauntlet literally amounted to little more than love taps followed by hand shakes or high-fives as the MP moved down the line. In essence, our NCOs were keeping this tradition alive purely in name only. However, as we all well know, perception is in the eye of the beholder, and perception is reality. Following an AR 15-6 Investigation, our CO, perhaps the best CO I have worked with at the Company level, was relieved.

Blood rank is hazing. Hazing is not tolerated. It is as simple as that.

Blood wings, blood rank, got it, loved it, felt like part of the group. I was pretty bloody and bruised after pinning E5. The only issue I could see is getting "pinned" by someone who you didn't want or respect. Other than that, I say keep the tradition alive.

I never got blood rank but used to get beat down by my section for every little thing..."oh you made E2? Beat down! First day on reaction force? Beat down! Etc...it was all in good fun, I did it too. I never cared for it but it was just how things were done. Some people take it way too far though, I have seen hazing push Marines and Soldiers to the brink of suicide. I was in a company that did things like this on a voluntary basis in an attempt at "CYA," but those that didn't volunteer tended to get shunned by those that did. It's risky business for anyone involved. It's all fun and games until the one person that thought they wanted to be in on it decides midway through that they don't. That's when good careers get ruined. I used to think that it was best to just stay out of it, then I saw a guy get busted for knowing it was going on and not saying anything. No under the table tradition is worth losing a career and taking food out of my family's mouth.

The same reason that "tacking on a crow" went away. Immature people got carried away with the ceremony and turned it into a sort of revenge thing. The simple friendly tacking of the crow became a harder punch and got out of control.

In the kinder gentler world we live in, a lot of things that were tradition have been eliminated as barbaric practice. That being said, if a Sailor/Soldier/Marine/Airman went to his top NCO, and stated that they wanted the blood rank, then why not. 
From a personal perspective, rites of passage are a part of life. In many cultures a child has to prove themselves before they can be considered an adult. That right of passage is going to involve misery, pain, suffering, and fatigue. The purpose of a rite of passage is not the amusement of others, but persevering over those hardships to become an integral part of the society. 

I received my Blood:
E-1 - E-5
Airborne Wings
Air Assault Wings
EIB
CIB

Every time I was asked prior. I replied with a thunderous yes!

Was it wrong? Not for me.
Did I have a choice? Yes
Should it be stopped? Only for the REMFs.

I received blood wings, blood rank, blood air assault wings and blood EIB, which by far was the worst). Nothing wrong with it!!!! Just don't let it get out of hand.

On the collar it seemed okay, but when we switched to ACU's I had gotten punched so hard in the chest that I couldn't breath right for over an hour.