Army investigates injuries suffered in out-of-control, excessively violent . . . pillow fight?

I'm not much for "spirit events" - and I've never been in the Armed Forces - so don't take my lack of familiarity as disdain for the idea in general. I suppose a bunch of soldiers-in-training standing around a courtyard whamming each other with pillows could be fun. It's probably not the sort of thing that makes the Russians cower in fear, but then again maybe they watch it with envy because they only "spirit" in their army is the one of fear over being sent to the gulag if they screw something up. At any rate, the video is less than a minute long, and it gives you a sense of what goes - and also of what could happen if someone decides it would be a grand idea to hide a helmet inside the pillow they're swinging.

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And yeah. Several someones did: (video below) It's not as if this is Disco Demolition Night, where you do it once and it's a complete disaster, and then everyone sits back and says, "How could we have possibly thought that would be a good idea?" No, they've done it for years and it's never been anything but a good time had by all. Until this year, when a so-far-unknown number of participants decided to use the occasion to intentionally and rather brutally inflict injury on others. The medic report is not pretty:

Twenty-four cadets were diagnosed with concussions, and other injuries included a broken nose, a dislocated shoulder and a hairline fracture to the cheekbone of one of the concussed cadets, Army officials said in a statement released Saturday. The pillow fight has been held for years as a way to bring students together, but spiraled out of control. “While these spirit events do occur, we never condone any activity that results in intentional harm to a teammate,” said Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Jr., the superintendent of the academy, in a statement. “Although the vast majority of the class appears to have maintained the spirit of the event; it is apparent that a few did not. A military police investigation that began the night of the incident is ongoing. I assure you that the chain of command will take appropriate action when the investigation is complete.” The violence, first reported by The New York Times Saturday, raises questions about a longtime tradition at the prestigious academy, which trains U.S. military officers. Several students placed helmets in their pillowcases, effectively weaponizing them.

We still don't know enough to determine is something sadistic has seeped into the culture of the institution, or if this was a matter of some individuals settling a grudge, or if maybe a few idiots just decided it would be fun to surprise their classmates by putting them in the hospital. I would observe there's a coarsening of the culture that celebrates hurting others in all kinds of ways - with words, with circumstances ("fire the idiot!") and yes, with bodily harm too. That doesn't mean it's in the Army or its various academies any more than anywhere else. It just means it spreads where it can. I'm sure the anti-military left and their mutant libertarian cousins will argue this represents the same culture that seeks to spread "American empire" across the globe or whatever, but actually as I understand it the emphasis in military training is very much on discipline and command. You don't just decide to smack someone, especially in an underhanded way like this. You don't do anything unless you're ordered to. I don't know the code of discipline, and I'm not looking to create more megaomaniacal Roger Goodells who just mete out punishments on a whim. But if the rules don't provide for people who do this sort of thing to be expelled and disqualified from any career in the military, then the rules need to be changed.