WEST POINT, N.Y. — Cadet pillow fights like the bloody one that left 30 injured this summer will be banned and actions are being pursued against many of those involved, U.S. Military Academy officials said Wednesday.
First-year students, known as plebes, organize the annual pillow fight as a way to build camaraderie after a grueling summer of training. But the pillow fight on Aug. 20 escalated into a free-for-all with plebes being hit from behind and knocked to the ground. Injuries included a broken nose, a fractured cheek and 24 diagnosed concussions, according to a report on the pillow fight released Wednesday.
“While never officially sanctioned, it is now officially banned, and we will take appropriate action to ensure that all faculty, staff, leaders, the Corps of Cadets and everyone at West Point knows that it will not be tolerated,” West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen said in a statement.
There were reports that some cadets were injured by hard objects placed in pillow cases after photos and video of the melee circulated on social media. But the report said many injuries were caused instead by elbows and falls to the ground. One cadet was identified by military police as striking another cadet with a hard object in a pillow case. One cadet was found unconscious.
The report said upper-class cadets did not take proper control of the fight to ensure the safety of plebes. Caslen said the incident could have been prevented with better communication between cadet leadership and senior military personnel before the pillow fight.
“I’m troubled by the failure to mitigate and lead, and by the conduct of those whose actions contributed to this incident,” Caslen said. “I am taking appropriate action based on these findings — to include administrative actions against senior military members and cadets alike — to send a clear message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated at our nation’s premiere military academy.”
" West Point Bans Pillow Fight After Dozens Injured "
WTF ??
What are these guys going to do in combat, call "time out" if they get a scrape?
Back in my day, we did bayonet training with padded sticks, don't remember what they called them now. Maybe Pete remembers. I remember one guy got a couple of broken ribs.
What this report fails to mention is that some of the cadets replaced pillows with helmets . The injuries occurred when those objects were used. Not sure if that is part of the unwritten rules ,or using them was out of bounds . I suspect it was part of the unwritten rules of the ritual .
What do you mean by win ? Do you mean military victories or political decisions that were not made by the military branch ? If you mean military victories ,I don't recall losing any in the post-WWII era .
Korea ,we 1st repelled the NORK invasion of the South and then repelled the combined NORK-Chinese invasion of the South. It ended in a political stalemate.
1964 Congo the Simba Rebellion was put down. We also helped put down a rebellion in 1978 .
1965 Dominican Republic the rebels in the Civil war were defeated .
Vietnaam there was no military defeats.South Vietnam fell after the Democrat dominated Congress cut off funding for the South Vietnam government ,2 years after American forces withdrew.
Grenada Military dictatorship of Hudson Austin deposed, defeated Cuban military presence and restored Constitutional Government.
Tanker war against Iran . Successfully kept Iran from closing the Persian Gulf to commerce.
Panama invasion Deposed Narco-dictator Noriega .
Gulf War 1990-91 achieved goal of forcing Iraqi forces from Kuwait .
Somalia intervention . Achieved goals established by UN ;an intervention that saved 100,000 lives.
Haiti reinstalled Aristide as president of Haiti.
Bosnia and Kosovo ;achieved the military goals set by the political leadership. Nuff said.
Afghanistan the military achieved the destruction of al-Qaeda training camps. The fall of the Taliban government.The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under the Karzai administration. Security and control of Afghanistan taken over by Afghan security forces ;Still contending with the Taliban insurgency .It will be a political decision if we leave while the Taliban insurgency is ongoing.U.S.currently is indefinitely committed ground combat units in 4 garrisons.
Operation Iraqi Freedom defeated the Hussein Army ;deposed Hussein . Helped establish a democratic government . Defeated multiple insurgencies including the al-Qaeda insurgency .The Sunni insurgency became allied with us to defeat AQ . When President Bush left office there was a twice democratically elected government as our ally and we had a Status of Forces agreement with them to assist them in security .
Libyan Civil War . Right or wrong ,Q Daffy was deposed.
Syrian Civil War/War against Islamic State . ongoing.
