Posted on Sep 4, 2015
Should charges be leveled at West Point Cadets who knowingly injured other Cadets in a Weaponized Pillow fight?
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The aftermath of this "pillow fight" left 30 injured, 2 medically removed, 3 broken arms, 1 broken leg, 1 broken neck, numerous with missing teeth and 24 concussions.
Cadets knowingly beat and seriously injured other Cadets in a yearly pillow fight event. The actions of those who weaponized (don't laugh) their pillows with the intent of harming other Cadets in the yearly fight are being investigated.
It's disturbing that this was observed by upper classmen and allowed to continue and that staff knew of it's occurrence and did not oversee or stop it from occurring. There is failure on multiple levels.
I'm sure it's seen as a right of passage at West Point but I can't get around the fact that they were intentionally seriously injuring their own comrades. It's obvious that the goal was to injure and be injured given the Upper classmen telling the plebs, to wear their body armor and kevlar helmets. If this had happened in a Unit, charges would be filed and heads would roll.
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From: NY Times
For generations, freshmen cadets at the United States Military Academy have marked the end of a grueling summer of training with a huge nighttime pillow fight that is billed as a harmless way to blow off steam and build class spirit.
But this year the fight on the West Point, N.Y., campus turned bloody as some cadets swung pillowcases packed with hard objects, thought to be helmets, that split lips, broke at least one bone, dislocated shoulders and knocked cadets unconscious. The brawl at the publicly funded academy, where many of the Army’s top leaders are trained, left 30 cadets injured, including 24 with concussions, according to West Point.
In interviews, cadets who asked that their names not be used for fear of repercussions in West Point’s strictly controlled culture, said the fight had left one cadet with a broken leg and dislocated shoulders in others. One cadet was knocked unconscious and taken away in an ambulance and had not returned to school, they said. But a spokesman for the academy, Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, said all cadets had returned to duty.
Though talk about the brawl on Aug. 20 had circulated on social media, West Point did not confirm it to The New York Times until Thursday.
Colonel Kasker said the annual fight is organized by first-year students as a way to build camaraderie after the summer program that prepares them for the rigors of plebe year.
Upperclassmen overseeing freshmen “allowed the spirit activity to occur out of the desire to enhance the spirit of the class,” Colonel Kasker said, adding that those upperclassmen took “mitigating measures” to prevent injury, including requiring cadets to wear helmets.
But video shows that many of the cadets did not wear helmets. Cadets said that in at least a few cases helmets became weapons stuffed into pillowcases.
“West Point applauds the cadets’ desire to build esprit and regrets the injuries to our cadets,” Colonel Kasker said. “We are conducting appropriate investigations into the causes of the injuries.”
So far no cadets have been punished, and the academy has no plans to end the annual tradition. Colonel Kasker said commanders were not available for comment on Friday.
Video of the fight posted online showed crowds of cadets, some wearing body armor as well as helmets, surging together in a central quad, their yells echoing off the stone walls of the surrounding barracks.
As the first-year cadets collided into a boil of white pillows, pummeling one another in the fading light, Army-issued glow sticks flew through the air and an impromptu cavalry of riders in laundry carts dashed in, cushions swinging. At one point, a smoke grenade appeared to go off.
Photos posted later on Twitter show plebes, as freshmen are called, with bloody faces and bloody pillows, and at least one person being loaded into an ambulance.
“My plebe was knocked unconscious and immediately began fighting when he came to,” an unnamed upperclassman, who was apparently observing from the sidelines, wrote on the social media forum Yik Yak. “I was so proud I could cry.”
As the battle continued, cadets clustered around at least two classmates who had fallen, apparently unable to get up. Others stumbled to a medical area set up beside the fracas.
“4 concussions, 1 broken leg, 2 broken arms, 1 dislocated shoulder, and several broken ribs. That’s one hell of a pillow fight. #USMA19,” one freshman posted on Twitter, echoing many who seemed to see the injuries as a point of pride.
As the scope of injuries became clear, cadets said in interviews, West Point staff members went door to door in the barracks giving quick concussion checks.
In interviews, cadets said they saw the fight as a chance to have fun after seven weeks of basic training in which they were not supposed to speak to one another. It was also a chance to show grit.
“If you don’t come back with a bloody nose,” a male first-year cadet said his upperclassman commander told him, “you didn’t try hard enough.”
West Point pillow fights have existed since at least 1897, according to testimony in a 1901 congressional inquiry on hazing at the school, but there have been no other reports over the decades of injury until recently.
In 2012, a cadet put a lockbox in a pillowcase, injuring others, and in response, the 2013 fight was canceled, cadets said.
Similar violence has occurred at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs during ceremonial warfare traditions in recent years.
During the first winter storm of the year, Air Force freshmen try to throw their cadet leaders into the snow. But in 2012 the snowball fight turned into a brawl, and 27 cadets were treated for concussions, cuts, broken bones and a bite wound.
The Air Force did not punish any cadets at the time, choosing to treat the episode as what a spokesman called “a teachable moment.”
West Point cadets had mixed reactions to the injuries this year. Some saw them as a rite of passage in a school known for being tough; others saw a lack of judgment and restraint.
“At first the body count, people were joking about it,” a female first-year cadet said. “My friends were really excited. And right after, when we learned how many people had gotten hurt, everyone felt totally hard-core. I know it looks weird from the outside, but it really bonds us.”
But when she saw a male cadet being loaded into an ambulance outside her dorm room, she began to have second thoughts.
“If you are an officer, you are supposed to make good decisions and follow the rules. You are supposed to mediate when everyone wants to go out and kill everyone,” she said. “The goal was to have fun, and it ended up some guys just chose to hurt people.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/05/us/at-west-point-annual-pillow-fight-becomes-weaponized.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=0
Cadets knowingly beat and seriously injured other Cadets in a yearly pillow fight event. The actions of those who weaponized (don't laugh) their pillows with the intent of harming other Cadets in the yearly fight are being investigated.
It's disturbing that this was observed by upper classmen and allowed to continue and that staff knew of it's occurrence and did not oversee or stop it from occurring. There is failure on multiple levels.
I'm sure it's seen as a right of passage at West Point but I can't get around the fact that they were intentionally seriously injuring their own comrades. It's obvious that the goal was to injure and be injured given the Upper classmen telling the plebs, to wear their body armor and kevlar helmets. If this had happened in a Unit, charges would be filed and heads would roll.
--
From: NY Times
For generations, freshmen cadets at the United States Military Academy have marked the end of a grueling summer of training with a huge nighttime pillow fight that is billed as a harmless way to blow off steam and build class spirit.
But this year the fight on the West Point, N.Y., campus turned bloody as some cadets swung pillowcases packed with hard objects, thought to be helmets, that split lips, broke at least one bone, dislocated shoulders and knocked cadets unconscious. The brawl at the publicly funded academy, where many of the Army’s top leaders are trained, left 30 cadets injured, including 24 with concussions, according to West Point.
In interviews, cadets who asked that their names not be used for fear of repercussions in West Point’s strictly controlled culture, said the fight had left one cadet with a broken leg and dislocated shoulders in others. One cadet was knocked unconscious and taken away in an ambulance and had not returned to school, they said. But a spokesman for the academy, Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, said all cadets had returned to duty.
Though talk about the brawl on Aug. 20 had circulated on social media, West Point did not confirm it to The New York Times until Thursday.
Colonel Kasker said the annual fight is organized by first-year students as a way to build camaraderie after the summer program that prepares them for the rigors of plebe year.
Upperclassmen overseeing freshmen “allowed the spirit activity to occur out of the desire to enhance the spirit of the class,” Colonel Kasker said, adding that those upperclassmen took “mitigating measures” to prevent injury, including requiring cadets to wear helmets.
But video shows that many of the cadets did not wear helmets. Cadets said that in at least a few cases helmets became weapons stuffed into pillowcases.
“West Point applauds the cadets’ desire to build esprit and regrets the injuries to our cadets,” Colonel Kasker said. “We are conducting appropriate investigations into the causes of the injuries.”
So far no cadets have been punished, and the academy has no plans to end the annual tradition. Colonel Kasker said commanders were not available for comment on Friday.
Video of the fight posted online showed crowds of cadets, some wearing body armor as well as helmets, surging together in a central quad, their yells echoing off the stone walls of the surrounding barracks.
As the first-year cadets collided into a boil of white pillows, pummeling one another in the fading light, Army-issued glow sticks flew through the air and an impromptu cavalry of riders in laundry carts dashed in, cushions swinging. At one point, a smoke grenade appeared to go off.
Photos posted later on Twitter show plebes, as freshmen are called, with bloody faces and bloody pillows, and at least one person being loaded into an ambulance.
“My plebe was knocked unconscious and immediately began fighting when he came to,” an unnamed upperclassman, who was apparently observing from the sidelines, wrote on the social media forum Yik Yak. “I was so proud I could cry.”
As the battle continued, cadets clustered around at least two classmates who had fallen, apparently unable to get up. Others stumbled to a medical area set up beside the fracas.
“4 concussions, 1 broken leg, 2 broken arms, 1 dislocated shoulder, and several broken ribs. That’s one hell of a pillow fight. #USMA19,” one freshman posted on Twitter, echoing many who seemed to see the injuries as a point of pride.
As the scope of injuries became clear, cadets said in interviews, West Point staff members went door to door in the barracks giving quick concussion checks.
In interviews, cadets said they saw the fight as a chance to have fun after seven weeks of basic training in which they were not supposed to speak to one another. It was also a chance to show grit.
“If you don’t come back with a bloody nose,” a male first-year cadet said his upperclassman commander told him, “you didn’t try hard enough.”
West Point pillow fights have existed since at least 1897, according to testimony in a 1901 congressional inquiry on hazing at the school, but there have been no other reports over the decades of injury until recently.
In 2012, a cadet put a lockbox in a pillowcase, injuring others, and in response, the 2013 fight was canceled, cadets said.
Similar violence has occurred at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs during ceremonial warfare traditions in recent years.
During the first winter storm of the year, Air Force freshmen try to throw their cadet leaders into the snow. But in 2012 the snowball fight turned into a brawl, and 27 cadets were treated for concussions, cuts, broken bones and a bite wound.
The Air Force did not punish any cadets at the time, choosing to treat the episode as what a spokesman called “a teachable moment.”
West Point cadets had mixed reactions to the injuries this year. Some saw them as a rite of passage in a school known for being tough; others saw a lack of judgment and restraint.
“At first the body count, people were joking about it,” a female first-year cadet said. “My friends were really excited. And right after, when we learned how many people had gotten hurt, everyone felt totally hard-core. I know it looks weird from the outside, but it really bonds us.”
But when she saw a male cadet being loaded into an ambulance outside her dorm room, she began to have second thoughts.
“If you are an officer, you are supposed to make good decisions and follow the rules. You are supposed to mediate when everyone wants to go out and kill everyone,” she said. “The goal was to have fun, and it ended up some guys just chose to hurt people.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/05/us/at-west-point-annual-pillow-fight-becomes-weaponized.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=0
Posted in these groups: 
United States Military Academy (USMA West Point)
United States Military Academy (USMA West Point)
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 108
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Completely unacceptable that the staff knew, observed and allowed the assaults to be continued.
" " that the commanding officer/NCOIC still have their jobs at this moment.
" " that the medical conditions these assaults have caused were preventable.
" " that those who caused injuries and assaults are not currently in jail.
" " that the commanding officer/NCOIC still have their jobs at this moment.
" " that the medical conditions these assaults have caused were preventable.
" " that those who caused injuries and assaults are not currently in jail.
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So it's perfectly fine for this happen at West Point, but if I give one of my troops blood wings after graduating Air Assault school, or the rank tap after a promotion I am guilty of Assault.
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SGT Michael Glenn
We had to stop giving Blood Rank when some wussy LT cried to our BNCDR about how it hurt.... what a wuss!!!!
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SPC (Join to see)
Neither is acceptable but this West Point pillow fight turned WWE match is extreme. Common sense is not common
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CPT (Join to see)
Capt Seid Waddell From AR 600-20 Army Command Policy
4–20. Hazing
The Army has been and continues to be a values-based organization where everyone is encouraged to do what is right by treating others as they should be treated—with dignity and respect. Hazing is fundamentally in opposition to our values and is prohibited.
a. Definition. Hazing is defined as any conduct whereby one military member or employee, regardless of Service or rank, unnecessarily causes another military member or employee, regardless of Service or rank, to suffer or be exposed to an activity that is cruel, abusive, oppressive, or harmful.
(1) Hazing includes, but is not limited, to any form of initiation "rite of passage" or congratulatory act that involves: physically striking another in order to inflict pain; piercing another’s skin in any manner; forcing or requiring the consumption of excessive amounts of food, alcohol, drugs, or other substances; or encouraging another to engage in illegal, harmful, demeaning or dangerous acts. Soliciting or coercing another to participate in any such activity is also considered hazing. Hazing need not involve physical contact among or between military members or employees; it can be verbal or psychological in nature.
4–20. Hazing
The Army has been and continues to be a values-based organization where everyone is encouraged to do what is right by treating others as they should be treated—with dignity and respect. Hazing is fundamentally in opposition to our values and is prohibited.
a. Definition. Hazing is defined as any conduct whereby one military member or employee, regardless of Service or rank, unnecessarily causes another military member or employee, regardless of Service or rank, to suffer or be exposed to an activity that is cruel, abusive, oppressive, or harmful.
(1) Hazing includes, but is not limited, to any form of initiation "rite of passage" or congratulatory act that involves: physically striking another in order to inflict pain; piercing another’s skin in any manner; forcing or requiring the consumption of excessive amounts of food, alcohol, drugs, or other substances; or encouraging another to engage in illegal, harmful, demeaning or dangerous acts. Soliciting or coercing another to participate in any such activity is also considered hazing. Hazing need not involve physical contact among or between military members or employees; it can be verbal or psychological in nature.
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These individuals with weaponized pillow cases having hard objects such as kevlars or other objects should be tried for assault and battery. I am sure many videos were made and exist even now.
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SFC Jim Ruether
It shouldn't be to hard to identify the perpetrators of this foolish activity. I don't care how long this type of hazing(Assault) has been committed. I would confiscate all cell phones, smart phones and recover the video's or ask those individuals who won't cooperate to leave the academy. Any one who allows this type of behavior to occur isn't fit to lead anyone except a line of prisoners as they enter the jail.
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SFC Jim Ruether
I would like to communicate with anyone who feels the same as I do. I can't be to far from the mainstream opinion on this.
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This is no different than getting jumped into a street gang...plain and simple. We as military officers should be above this type of idiotic and stupid behavior. I am all for traditions like a pillow fight or something like that where no one gets seriously injured. We promised these kids moms and dads that for the next four years we were going to take them in and teach them how to be leaders and fight our nations wars...how the heck does stuffing a helmet or another hard object into pillow and beating your "teammate" with it accomplish that mission? It doesn't. I hold the senior cadets accountable but I also hold the leadership of the academy that knew about it accountable. They should be removed from their posts as well for letting it happen. Before they even get started you may have ended someone's career or dream of being an Army Officer. This is not acceptable to me at all.
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If this is the caliber of new soldiers, then God help us!! Not only should these cadets be dishonorably discharged from the academy and never be allowed to wear a military uniform! Those that allowed this to happen should also be discharged!
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SFC Jim Ruether
I agree with you 100% Pat. I am sure this will be swept under the rug as usual. No one will suffer one bit.
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MCPO Roger Collins
How do candidates get selected for military academies? Do you really believe the academies want to piss off members of Congress? Yes, perhaps in the most egregious of assault, it will be managed in house. Remember the golden rule.
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The whole chain of command should be removed and charged under the UCMJ. They all failed to provide leadership and oversight during this whole process. A operations order along with the proper risk assessments should have been in place. Also were is the Command and Control boots on ground during this event. A congressional board needs to look at the academy as a whole. I'm sure with some other recent racial problems with cadets from one ethic group making a racial gestures the 21st Century Leadership disgracing the long gray line!
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This is total activity unbecoming of an Officer. True the Cadets are not officers yet, but with this kind of behavior, should they ever become officers? I am getting more disgusted everyday with the Officers and Senior enlisted. The women Cadets with the fists is just another example, along with the woman SFC wearing hair that is not up to standards.
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Absolutely they should be charged along with those in charge of this mess.
This is why these traditions are being phased out, because the current crop of people participating don't do it for the team building and bonding that its supposed to be doing.
Just like crossing the equator for the Navy has now turned into a steel beach picnic and being handed a certificate because too many people got carried away and instead of initiating they got out of hand and were beating their shipmates.
This is why these traditions are being phased out, because the current crop of people participating don't do it for the team building and bonding that its supposed to be doing.
Just like crossing the equator for the Navy has now turned into a steel beach picnic and being handed a certificate because too many people got carried away and instead of initiating they got out of hand and were beating their shipmates.
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