A graphic and heartbreaking video (above) is making its way around the Internet and on the news of a young Army Soldier being hit in the chest with a mallet as part of a hazing ritual.
The young man, Phillip Roach, is shown falling to the ground and hitting his head. The blow created a medical condition called commotio curtis, which is fatal in about half the instances. Fortunately, Roach survived but suffered a seizure and needed staples to the head as a result of the fall. SFC Carpenter, who delivered the blow, has been reprimanded, but Roach’s father wants more—to see SFC Carpenter demoted in rank.
Many people, however, say that SFC Carpenter is just a part of a bigger system of hazing in the military that puts our enlisted men and women in danger.
Just last week a soldier at Fort Bragg was sentenced in the hazing of another young man who killed himself reportedly after hazing incidents. WITN.com explained the situation as, “Another soldier is being punished for his role in the suicide of an Army private, who authorities say killed himself because he was hazed over his Chinese ancestry.”
If hazing is a normal part of military culture, we have to ask ourselves whether true harassment and assault are sometimes being excused based upon the excuse that hazing is normal, or if all hazing is inappropriate and dangerous.
What do you think should happen to SFC Carpenter?
How can we prevent these things from happening again?
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Depends if the hazing is just a silly prank, something with no risk of injury and more of just a symbol than actual punishment. Do the cleaning for a month or something…but ban anything that causes serious harm, there’s no need to cripple your fellow soldier!
NO! – But it won’t stop until we stop training men to be violent. The military institution is a patriarchal system with a hierarchical structure that exists on brutality, violence and bullying. Hazing is a rite of passage into the violent club and a way of beating out any sense of vulnerable emotions. The rationalisation behind this is based on group mentality- for a man to kill, to be a brother in arms the other soldiers need to know that they can rely on him in difficult times, he needs to be tough!
What is almost more frightening in the military, now more women are joining is what their ‘hazing’, rite of passage looks like!
Hazing? Just don’t get it. It makes no sense and has no reason. Where did it come from?
As for the video, where I come from that is not Hazing – it’s called assault. Reminds me of Jackass and the MTV generation – and when I think of those I also see the forerunner to Abu Ghraib.
What do you think should happen to SFC Carpenter? – Errrrr …. Kicked out and prison time is my preferred option.
How can we prevent these things from happening again? Stop allowing officers to brush it under the carpet using The Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 15, and have all incidents investigated and actioned under Articles 138 and 139. If the middle management ranking officers don’t have the will or brains to do the job, go over their heads.
I’m also surprised that action has not been taken, and public awareness of failure in duty is not grasped more clearly. I do believe that a Film from 1992 called “A Few Good Men”, did illustrate the issues some 20 years ago.
From what I hear, the word “tradition” excuses any and all abuses of all sorts. So as long as the military claims it’s a “tradition,” they can dunk your balls in battery acid. God Bless America.
A big part of the problem is the hazing is a manifestation of the constant pressures that men are put under where they have to prove they are “man enough”. For a long time military service in and of itself has been held up as a measuring bar of one’s masculinity (which is why men who don’t serve may face teasing and shaming and male candidates for office that served will always mention the fact that they have served their country).
Included in this “hazing” is a lot of rape and sexual assault.
I have seen numbers like an estimated 27% of male soldiers have been sexually assaulted while in the army banded around, however I haven’t seen a good source for this number. But the 600 page report at Military rape crisis shows that there is “a lot” of rape, with both genders as victims, in the military.
http://militaryrapecrisiscenter.org/
Oh, the BS that’s predictably trotted out to justify disgraceful, sadistic behavior. Tradition and solidarity my *ss. I suppose lynchings too were at one time an “honorable” part of being an American. The thing to do about brutality is to end it. “SFC” Carpenter needs to clean latrines for the next 20 years and pay Phillip Roache’s costs for medical and home care. Simultaneously, the US gov’t needs to pass, announce and enforce new laws to protect the health, well-being, and dignity of EVERY member of the armed forces. Any a**hole who violates these laws needs to be punished MORE SEVERELY than a civilian would, as having absolute authority over others is a sacred trust which carries enormous responsibilities. Joining the forces is an act of patriotism offered in good faith, not an invitation to subject oneself to sadism and humiliation. Human rights is not merely about protecting the rights of gays in the military! IT BELONGS TO EVERYONE. If we can’t protect our own, we have absolutely no business invading other countries and coercing them to run things our way.