Bull Ensign, Order of the Shellback, and other hazing highjinks....

[Devildoc]

I was at work today talking with some colleagues, some who had been in the service, some not. We got on the topic of ceremonies-cum-hazing. I was a corpsman for many years, but then got my commission. I was the Bull Ensign, the most senior Ensign of the command, and as such had to provide a joke of the day, coordinate social activities, run the wardroom, and essentially be the CO's bitch. I also talked about the Order of the Shellback, crossing the equator. There are also about a dozen other "orders" in which ritualistic hazing 'may' occur/have occurred.

I know other services have unique activities and ceremonies. Anyone care to share any experiences (first-hand or anecdotal)?

 

[Brill]

I never considered Blue Nose (1992) or Chiefs' Initiation (2001) as hazing but rather a bonding experience.

 

[Devildoc]

Foremost, I agree re: bonding vs hazing. I could have chosen a better word. FWIW as much a pain in the ass as being The Bull was, it wasn't hazing so much as the constant being picked on. That was just....annoying.

There are so many traditions...tacking the crow, wetting the crow/bar, pinning rituals...none of which I considered malicious but rather bonding/tradition.

 

[Brill]

Foremost, I agree re: bonding vs hazing. I could have chosen a better word. FWIW as much a pain in the ass as being The Bull was, it wasn't hazing so much as the constant being picked on. That was just....annoying.

There are so many traditions...tacking the crow, wetting the crow/bar, pinning rituals...none of which I considered malicious but rather bonding/tradition.

Agree. The ONLY time I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the bond/haz line was crossed was in mid-90s watching Marines tack on their blood wings. My best friend was on the receiving end of another Jarhead who ran head first into his chest, tacking on the wings and knocking them both down.

My buddy quickly jumps up and screams "Is that all you pussies got?!?!" He ended up marrying a very nice looking USAF intel officer.

I got my NAC wings pinned on by an Admiral. Now, I run in women's shoes (size 12.5).

Correlation? I dunno.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I still think I can feel the bruises from when I had to walk the gauntlet after getting promoted to Lance Corporal. After seeing my best friend at the time not be able to PT the day after getting his Blood Stripes, (he literally could not walk) there was a genuine fear I had of even wanting to make Corporal.

Not sure if the Corps still does that stupid shit, but I hope not. Fist shots to the shoulder or thighs is one thing, but to injur someone in that way is just stupid.

 

[Gunz]

I walked the gauntlet and got my bloodstripes for Corporal on the flightdeck of the USS Shreveport (LPD-12) in the Bermuda Triangle. My arms and legs were black purple yellow and green for a week and a half after getting blooded. I had leg injuries already in my left leg so they concentrated on the right.

 

[Grunt]

...Not sure if the Corps still does that stupid shit, but I hope not. Fist shots to the shoulder or thighs is one thing, but to injur someone in that way is just stupid.

We had one on crutches for weeks after walking the gauntlet when we picked up Corporal. His common peronneal was destroyed.

 

[SkrewzLoose]

My Div-O just took off his Bull-bars tonight as he was promoted to LTJG. He's a solid dude, SWO qual'd as an Ensign and actually gives a shit about his people.
I'll let you all know how the whole shellback thing goes in a month or so...

 

[Teufel]

My Div-O just took off his Bull-bars tonight as he was promoted to LTJG. He's a solid dude, SWO qual'd as an Ensign and actually gives a shit about his people.
I'll let you all know how the whole shellback thing goes in a month or so...

@Skrewloose, you're still a nasty wog?! Unsat. You can't be a proper sailor until you've been judged by King Neptune and his court. I await the results of your trial at the equator.

 

[SkrewzLoose]

Indeed I am, Sir. Based on what I've heard about what goes on during all this, 2 things come to mind: 1) I've already been through worse and 2) I might be inclined to punch someone in the dick at some point.
I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes if/when it happens.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

My first unit had an old Kpot painted fire engine red and glued an old green tent pole to the top (one of the shelter half ones). It was the "Cherry Hat" painted in white out in the front and back and allowed every NCO to quickly identify you and task you with some reindeer game, bullshit tasks. All new PVTs had to wear it, everywhere, until the next noob or until his SL said you were good to go. I was very lucky that I only wore it for one 2 day drill, until the next noob showed up. Our Btn XO, had me drive him down to the fueling point, wearing the cherry hat, a shit load of civilians and soldiers had a good time laughing at my expense.

 

[Teufel]

My first unit had an old Kpot painted fire engine red and glued an old green tent pole to the top (one of the shelter half ones). It was the "Cherry Hat" painted in white out in the front and back and allowed every NCO to quickly identify you and task you with some reindeer game, bullshit tasks. All new PVTs had to wear it, everywhere, until the next noob or until his SL said you were good to go. I was very lucky that I only wore it for one 2 day drill, until the next noob showed up. Our Btn XO, had me drive him down to the fueling point, wearing the cherry hat, a shit load of civilians and soldiers had a good time laughing at my expense.

I don't normally play this game but I can do you one better. I'm sure most members here are familiar with the "cherry jumper" tradition. I've been to a variety of airborne units in my recon career and everyone of them had some sort of tradition to introduce new jumpers into the world of airborne on their first jump out of Airborne school. I've seen helmets painted red, strips of red tape on helmets and other things. My friend out at 3d Recon had a fairly entertaining cherry jump. Apparently his platoon started putting a red strip of tape on the helmet of a cherry jumper. At some point someone painted cherries on the side of a helmet and this became the cherry jumper's helmet. This continued to escalate until someone super glued a huge red dildo to the front of a red MICH helmet. I'm sure you can see where this is going. The jumper exited the aircraft, the dildo detached from the front of the helmet and impacted the forehead of the jumper with great violence, rendering the Marine unconscious. Needless to say the battalion commander had some questions for the jumpmaster after he read the incident report.

 

[Ranger Psych]

We just used a piece of 550 starched to rigidity, taped with red 100mph tape to a helmet that was fully adorned with red tape...

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

I don't normally play this game but I can do you one better. I'm sure most members here are familiar with the "cherry jumper" tradition. I've been to a variety of airborne units in my recon career and everyone of them had some sort of tradition to introduce new jumpers into the world of airborne on their first jump out of Airborne school. I've seen helmets painted red, strips of red tape on helmets and other things. My friend out at 3d Recon had a fairly entertaining cherry jump. Apparently his platoon started putting a red strip of tape on the helmet of a cherry jumper. At some point someone painted cherries on the side of a helmet and this became the cherry jumper's helmet. This continued to escalate until someone super glued a huge red dildo to the front of a red MICH helmet. I'm sure you can see where this is going. The jumper exited the aircraft, the dildo detached from the front of the helmet and impacted the forehead of the jumper with great violence, rendering the Marine unconscious. Needless to say the battalion commander had some questions for the jumpmaster after he read the incident report.

That is awesome!

 

[pardus]

Juvenile games...

 

[SkrewzLoose]

Intentionally injuring your people to the point where they can't move or are in crutches is absurd. What's to be gained from that?

 

[Brill]

I don't normally play this game but I can do you one better. I'm sure most members here are familiar with the "cherry jumper" tradition. I've been to a variety of airborne units in my recon career and everyone of them had some sort of tradition to introduce new jumpers into the world of airborne on their first jump out of Airborne school. I've seen helmets painted red, strips of red tape on helmets and other things. My friend out at 3d Recon had a fairly entertaining cherry jump. Apparently his platoon started putting a red strip of tape on the helmet of a cherry jumper. At some point someone painted cherries on the side of a helmet and this became the cherry jumper's helmet. This continued to escalate until someone super glued a huge red dildo to the front of a red MICH helmet. I'm sure you can see where this is going. The jumper exited the aircraft, the dildo detached from the front of the helmet and impacted the forehead of the jumper with great violence, rendering the Marine unconscious. Needless to say the battalion commander had some questions for the jumpmaster after he read the incident report.

Dick head?

 

[Brill]

Intentionally injuring your people to the point where they can't move or are in crutches is absurd. What's to be gained from that?

To separate Marines from the Air Force.

 

[DA SWO]

I don't normally play this game but I can do you one better. I'm sure most members here are familiar with the "cherry jumper" tradition. I've been to a variety of airborne units in my recon career and everyone of them had some sort of tradition to introduce new jumpers into the world of airborne on their first jump out of Airborne school. I've seen helmets painted red, strips of red tape on helmets and other things. My friend out at 3d Recon had a fairly entertaining cherry jump. Apparently his platoon started putting a red strip of tape on the helmet of a cherry jumper. At some point someone painted cherries on the side of a helmet and this became the cherry jumper's helmet. This continued to escalate until someone super glued a huge red dildo to the front of a red MICH helmet. I'm sure you can see where this is going. The jumper exited the aircraft, the dildo detached from the front of the helmet and impacted the forehead of the jumper with great violence, rendering the Marine unconscious. Needless to say the battalion commander had some questions for the jumpmaster after he read the incident report.

My last jump unit had a set of white helmets with cherries painted on them. The jumper would paint his initials on the helmet after making jump 6 (or his first unit jump once the pipeline was established).

Someone complained and the Wing CC said he wanted it to stop. I replied the the chain e-mail that the white helmet was worn as a safety measure; the Chain of Command bought my reasoning and our tradition continued.

 

[Devildoc]

My Div-O just took off his Bull-bars tonight as he was promoted to LTJG. He's a solid dude, SWO qual'd as an Ensign and actually gives a shit about his people.
I'll let you all know how the whole shellback thing goes in a month or so...

Being the Bull was a pain in the ass. Even though I was a mustang, everyone from E6 up felt like they had an open hand to give me shit. I had to do a joke of the day. I got raunchier and raunchier until I was eventually told to just stop.

I also had to put together some dinings-in/dinings-out, which is a lot of work, but being a mustang always tried to give the enlisted participants some priority.