Jump to content

Hazing Past and Present.


Recommended Posts

5 hours ago, Chief Guns said:

Sadly i never marched as i don't have a ounce of musical talent in my bones. But as i am currently active duty in the Navy, when i crossed the equator for the first time back in January 1998, i got hazed big time. Didn't think too much of it at the time, all i knew is everyone before me did it, so i was following tradition that i was a Pollywog and needed to go thru this "Ceremony" to become a Shellback. Being that i was 20 years old and a E1, I was too scared to question anything. Knowing what i know now as a Navy Chief, i was hazed and practically tortured lol. I remember our Work Center Supervisor made me and four other guys in my division put on dresses and we had to be the Spice Girls. Since i am African American i had to be Scary Spice lol. He had a tape recorder and walked us all over the ship, when he pressed play the Spice Girls song "Wannabe played and we had to sing and dance lol.  Later that night we got taken down to the engineering main spaces where NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM..........hot sauce up the you know where was just one of the horrific and terrifying events we was forced to do. 

The dress bit was tame....the hot sauce crossed a line.....and NOT the equator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, 84BDsop said:

The dress bit was tame....the hot sauce crossed a line.....and NOT the equator.

Yeah that was a line that should have not been crossed for sure. 

Back during my times one of the preferred hazing methods used in the Marines was to "tar and feather" someone was to put edge dressing on your privates and some other not so nice things. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 84BDsop said:

The dress bit was tame....the hot sauce crossed a line.....and NOT the equator.

Yea i personally didn't have a problem being a Spice Girl lol. It was hilarious and everyone on the ship got a laugh out of it. Even now i look back on it laugh. Now days that would never fly as there would be EO complaints left and right. But all the other stuff...........yea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Band had an 'initiation' during the summer camp.  It was generally silly stuff like "dress up your freshman" which, since all the freshmen were getting something, was "sure, I'll wear some goofball stuff!"  There'd be a "blindfold people and lead them around" thing at night where would walk trough a big mess of spaghetti and be told it was worms or dumb stuff like that.  Then it always ended with a shaving cream fight followed by a hose down.  My freshman year we were twice the size of the senior class and the shaving cream fight was basically a revenge victory.  I remember getting my 'bunk sign' graffitied with "dead meat" and yelled at the first day and stuff, which was a bit alarming and intimidating for an introverted 14 year old, but quickly figured out it was all show.  By the time I was a senior we were being told not to take it to intimidation levels and stuff. We ended up being yearlong mentors to the freshmen in our sections we were assigned to as well. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was 14, the second youngest kid in the corps, and knew that at some point there was going to be an "initiation", but no one would give me any details, which only served to gradually heighten the anxiety.

The head "Initiator" was a bass drummer who was about 20, built like an NFL linebacker. One day, after a Sunday rehearsal, someone said, "It's on", and I was led into his basement by a few other vets. There was a wooden chair in the center of the room, over which a naked light bulb swayed. I had seen enough WWII movies to anticipate some form of torture.

Not a word was spoken, but it was obvious I was to sit in the chair. They all went behind a curtain, about 10 ft in front of me. I was sweating. I became conscious of a strangely familiar scratching sound then suddenly, the highest, loudest notes I had ever heard emanated from two speakers on either side of me. The next 2 minutes constituted an audio experience I had not imagined possible.

Then, silence. The "Initiator" approached, leaned in close, smiled and said one word: "Maynard".

I learned later it was "Ole!" from Ferguson's album, "Maynard '61", and swore I'd walk on hot coals for these guys if they would teach me how to play like that.

Some initiation. Positively life-changing.

 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/9/2020 at 10:02 AM, Chief Guns said:

Sadly i never marched as i don't have a ounce of musical talent in my bones. But as i am currently active duty in the Navy, when i crossed the equator for the first time back in January 1998, i got hazed big time. Didn't think too much of it at the time, all i knew is everyone before me did it, so i was following tradition that i was a Pollywog and needed to go thru this "Ceremony" to become a Shellback. Being that i was 20 years old and a E1, I was too scared to question anything. Knowing what i know now as a Navy Chief, i was hazed and practically tortured lol. I remember our Work Center Supervisor made me and four other guys in my division put on dresses and we had to be the Spice Girls. Since i am African American i had to be Scary Spice lol. He had a tape recorder and walked us all over the ship, when he pressed play the Spice Girls song "Wannabe played and we had to sing and dance lol.  Later that night we got taken down to the engineering main spaces where NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM..........hot sauce up the you know where was just one of the horrific and terrifying events we was forced to do. 

All I can say is "Commandants Own" & 29 Palms.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...