Tradition
Hazing
First, the NCO induction ceremony is a tradition, hitting your Soldier in the chest with a mallet is not. (I have seen this before but it still blows my mind)
There will always be a fine line between continuing traditions and hazing. I will always be a little torn as to if certain "traditions" should still be allowed or not. I can't say that I personally am against these "traditions" (i.e. bloodrank/wings, wetting down, etc) with caveats like does the Soldier have the option to opt out of these ceremonies. The other issue is that it does not matter what I really think or feel the Army has set a standard, as such traditions will need to change to the needs of the Army.
There is definitely something to be said for shared hardships creating a more cohesive unit and putting Soldiers on a common ground. For the last decade plus our shared hardship has been one or more deployments. I believe may see a resurgence of these traditions as we wind down, we have to develop the right traditions to groom our Soldiers.
I definitely agree SFC Williams. While I do miss the days of blood rank and what not, we have to adapt to an ever changing environment, nothing stays the same, and neither can our methods. That being said, traditions such as NCO Inductions are an integral part of our Corps. A Soldier should feel pride when they put those chevrons on for the first time, and should be introduce to the Corps appropriately. My Brigade just did the first one we have had in about two years, it was a very well executed ceremony that made me proud to be an NCO. Events like NCO inductions, NCO Call are just two pieces of the puzzle that we need to help bring our NCO Corps back to what it needs to be.
I remember that instance with 1SG Carpernter and SGT Roach. No questions asked...that was assualt. I believe that there is a huge difference between military traditions and hazing/assault. I never saw anything wrong with the awarding of "blood rank" when folks got promoted back in the day. I never saw anything wrong with "blood wings" for the ABN guys. I never saw anything wrong with the "thrashing" one would receive while going through a Spur Ride.
What I do see that is wrong are things like you mentioned, specifically the wooden mallet incident. A mallet? I mean really? There is absolutely a reason to keep military traditions like these. I believe that they increase camraderie. There is no place however, for assault.
Agreed, MSG - I've had no problem getting my multiple sets of blood wings, and I certainly hope my unit cohesion is strong enough that I'll get blood wings when I get my star. Some things really are a morale builder and rite of passage - the mallet was not one of them.
BLUF: hazing is taking advantage of and abusing subordinates and is detrimental to unit cohesion and morale. Tradition fosters comraderie and espirit de corps through the experience of shared hardships.
There is a difference between hazing and tradition and leaders at all levels need to exercise common sense to understand the difference between the two. If it is illegal, immoral, or unethical, it is hazing. There is nothing wrong with embracing the shared harships that come along with our profession of arms, but we definitelty need to understand the differance between hazing and tradition. Now personally, I don't think a slight punch in the rank, "wetting down", or push-ups should be considered hazing, but you need to be careful. The 1SG who slammed a brand new E-5 in the chest with a wooden mallet (he ended up having a seizure and dying) clearly committed assault.
I went to a military school and experienced my fair share of what would be considered hazing. Did it make me a better leader? No. But I did experience some extremely demanding training that pushed me to my mental and physical limits and turned strangers into brothers. That did make me a better leader, I think. I think that because there was a clear purpose to everything we did, we couldn't do it alone, and it helped us all grow and work as a team. Some of the senior cadets who hazed me, were clearly not role models or leaders to emulate. In fact, I lost a lot of respect for some of the worst offenders when some serious injuries happened to some good friends. So how can you expect to be a good leader when you abuse your Soldiers and then expect them to have your back in battle?
See the discussion "Hazing vs Tradition?" for more info on this.
I think there is a distinct difference between conditioning and being cruel for the sake of being cruel. Listen, as an NCO in the barracks I got respect for respecting the troops and was approachable if they had a problem.
An Airman next door to me revealed a scandal that cost him and eventually cost the real perpetrator his life. I am honored that he trusted me and while I see the merits for toughness, I do get the need to be strong and fair. Unit cohesion and all.
RIP his eye out. Chew his ear off the side of his head. I wasnt in the old Army I went in 1978. The old Army was before WWll
Chief you're spot on about achieving the desired results as a result of our traditions, and there were clearly many things included in CCTI in days gone past there were not helpful in building either leadership or espirit de corps. The problem we have run into now is that we've become so sensitive to what the PC crowd thinks that many of our traditions are going by the wayside so we don't offend people who aren't in the service.
When I went through CCTI as a newly minted E7, it was hard work, and we were not given a moments peace until the acceptance dinner. Was I hazed?...never. Was I taught to honor the traditions of my service?...every day for the six longest weeks of my life!! I wouldn't have it any other way. It made me a better leader and service member. Unfortunately, today's "prospective chief petty officers" are exposed to little more than a social gathering for fear of upsetting somebody who didn't have the courage to serve.
But that has very little to do with the actual tradition.
Tacking on ranks is a very old British Navy tradition from the days of the sailing Navy. When a British sailor advanced in rank, their seniors would sew on or "tack" their new rank device to their uniform as a way of congratulations.
Now where this developed into punching a person as hard as you could in the arm to ensure their rank wouldn't fall off, I have no idea. I had my rank "tacked" on from E-4 to E-6 using the new tradition. Good thing I was made of stronger stuff because I've seen some serious injuries from very bad burses to broken arms.
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