The wussification of the Officer Corps continues unabated...

Zaphod

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Now they can't even do Herndon right!

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No Lard for Navy Plebes in Yearly Academy Ritual

By BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press Writer

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- As they have for 70 years, students at the U.S. Naval Academy celebrated the end of their grueling first year by scaling a 21-foot obelisk on Monday. But this time, without a lard coating on the monument, students completed the task in minutes.

For years, the Herndon Monument was slathered in the grease to make the event as challenging as possible. It often took hours for a group of first-year students, or "plebes," to hoist a peer on their shoulders to place an officer's hat atop the obelisk.

This year, the event drew more attention after Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, the academy's superintendent, cited "unnecessary injury risk" as a reason the school could end the yearly ritual. He declined to offer a timetable for a decision that will likely rest with his successor.

"I just think at some point it will become not very interesting and it will just cease to be a climb," Fowler told reporters earlier this month, adding that there have been minor injuries in the past.

However, many students, parents and alumni find the tradition to be an endearing rite of passage.

On Monday, Midshipman Keegan Albi managed to grip the sides of the monument and shimmy his way to the top in just over two minutes after a human pyramid of classmates boosted him more than halfway up. As the ritual dictates, he snatched a first-year student's cap from the top and replaced it with the officer's hat.

Moments after reaching the top, Albi was upbeat, but he also sounded disappointed by the lack of lard.

"They should grease it, though, make it a lot harder," Albi, of Eugene, Ore., said.

Spectators, including alumni and current students who dealt with the lard coating, could be heard grumbling about how easy it is without the grease.

John Truesdell, who made the greasy climb in 1960, warmly recalled the bond of teamwork shared by those in tackling the task. He said the academy should keep the tradition.

"I would love to see it continue," Truesdell, of Tucson, Ariz., said. "I think it's such a big part of the tradition at the academy."

Even Albi's mom, Linda Albi, said it was much more exciting when her daughter participated several years ago.

"It happened way too fast," Linda Albi said, noting she hardly had time to take pictures.

Fowler said he would rather that the academy's Sea Trials exercise be seen as the culminating experience for plebes. The 14-hour competition, which began in 1998, involves every member of the class and requires teamwork to complete an obstacle course.

Fowler is slated to be replaced as superintendent by Navy Rear Adm. Michael H. Miller, who was nominated by President Barack Obama's administration in April to lead the school. Miller must first be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

First-year students began the yearly ritual of helping classmate to the top of the obelisk in 1940, and added the symbolic placement of an officer's cap on its tip seven years later, according a history of the event by James Cheevers, senior curator at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum. In 1949, upperclassmen began smearing on as much as 200 pounds of lard on the monument to increase the difficulty of the task.

Records are incomplete on how long the climb has taken every year. But the longest time is believed to be the span of more than four hours in 1995, a year when upperclassmen glued down the hat that must be removed from the top. The shortest on record is 1 1/2 minutes in 1969, a year that the monument wasn't greased.

Absolutely fracking pathetic. :mad:
 
Why not just put a stepladder next to the damned monument. Be sure to include safety rails, a harness, and make the climber wear a helmet! :rolleyes:
 
Bah. Screw it.

Call Otis Elevator and have them address it...
 
Zaphod,

I never agree with your political postings, but you are most justifiably upset about the Herndon deal. I was at VMI when the Breakout changed from a crawl up a muddy hill to a much weaker, more "professional" march and group leadership exercise. At least there, the decision to change came from the majority of the Corps (although there was a large vocal minority opposed to it). I could most certainly respect the decision to remove the lard from Herndon, or to do away with it altogether, if it came from the Brigade. This clearly is not the case. As a Naptown native, I'm familiar with the tenure of this Supe, and he has obviously made several bad decisions (just read the many threads about the football player/drug scandal). Indeed, Adm. Fowler appears to have made yet another bad choice with Herndon, and I'm sure the alumni of USNA are rightfully upset. 70 years of tradition should not have been so swiftly pushed aside. How many injuries occur on average anyway? These guys are training to be Navy and Marine Corps officers...I don't know the reason for such an eggshell mentality with the USNA administration.
 
Herndon used to be for the mids. The parents seem to have taken it over. Adm Fowler has made several mandates to return the Brigade to the midshipmen. Perhaps this is one of them.
 
Hey Zaph. How do you really feel? Just remember the hitchhiker's guide.:thumb:
 
Herndon used to be for the mids. The parents seem to have taken it over. Adm Fowler has made several mandates to return the Brigade to the midshipmen. Perhaps this is one of them.

Good bye tradition in America with attitudes like this...

Thanks for the progressive view, all participants win a prize....I wonder if Al Qaeda relaxed training in honor of this....:thumbdown:
 
I think its sad to just discard traditions that have great meaning to so many people and certainly in this case the alledged risk of serious injury does not seem to be backed up in any way by the experience of a few decades of history.

That said I dont think we need blow things out of all proportion, I dont think it could be said to be either a wussification of the Officer Corp or providing any kind of strategic benefit to Al Qaeda if a few hundred mids no longer spend 3 hours trying to scale a lard covered obelisk...
 
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aglages said:
Good riddance to Adm. Fowler.

I wouldn't be too quick to lay all of this on Adm Fowler. If you will remember, doing away with the Herndon climb was on Capt Klein's agenda from the very beginning. My guess is that the professional development gurus want it replaced with the sea trials and Adm Fowler has basically deferred it to his successor.
 
Zaphod,

I never agree with your political postings

Well, no one's perfect. :thumb:

I could most certainly respect the decision to remove the lard from Herndon, or to do away with it altogether, if it came from the Brigade. This clearly is not the case. As a Naptown native, I'm familiar with the tenure of this Supe, and he has obviously made several bad decisions (just read the many threads about the football player/drug scandal). Indeed, Adm. Fowler appears to have made yet another bad choice with Herndon, and I'm sure the alumni of USNA are rightfully upset. 70 years of tradition should not have been so swiftly pushed aside. How many injuries occur on average anyway? These guys are training to be Navy and Marine Corps officers...I don't know the reason for such an eggshell mentality with the USNA administration.

Well, hopefully it will leave along with Fowler. :mad:
 
Herndon used to be for the mids. The parents seem to have taken it over. Adm Fowler has made several mandates to return the Brigade to the midshipmen. Perhaps this is one of them.

How so? Plebes LONGED for the challenge of beating the time of their uperclassmen for bragging rights.

There is NO WAY the Brigade would support such a stupid idea as this.
 
That said I dont think we need blow things out of all proportion, I dont think it could be said to be either a wussification of the Officer Corp or providing any kind of strategic benefit to Al Qaeda if a few hundred mids no longer spend 3 hours trying to scale a lard covered obelisk...

It's about morale, which affects EVERYTHING.

This class has just been told, "Sorry, but we're going to baby you because we don't want you to get hurt. Be good children and run along. You're not as good as all the folks before you."

Why have the ceremony now anyway? Just HAND them the damned cover and be done with it. Do it on I-Day and avoid the stresses of Plebe Year altogether. :rolleyes:
 
My guess is that the professional development gurus want it replaced with the sea trials and Adm Fowler has basically deferred it to his successor.

Oh, so he screwed everything up and then kicked the can down the road for someone else to deal with, eh?

He should run for Congress. :rolleyes:
 
It's about morale, which affects EVERYTHING.

This class has just been told, "Sorry, but we're going to baby you because we don't want you to get hurt. Be good children and run along. You're not as good as all the folks before you."

I agree. I feel bad for the 2013 guys. They are sure to hear crap about it for a while, and it's not like it was something they could control.
 
I agree. I feel bad for the 2013 guys. They are sure to hear crap about it for a while, and it's not like it was something they could control.

They'll never hear the end of it, and as you said, it's particularly bad because they had no say.

What has happened to my beloved Academy? Drug scandals, football players getting away with honor violations, rapes, and now Herndon. :frown:

You know, if stuff like this happened aboard a ship, the CO would be relieved for "loss of confidence in their ability to command".

Just sayin'....



ETA: You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if this is something that will rarely be brought up "against" 2013, but that they will ALWAYS be aware about. Man, it SUCKS to be them right now.
 
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