A photo of a bloody cadet after a pillow fight at West Point.(Photo: Twitter)
The superintendent of the Army's premier West Point Military Academy took full responsibility for a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>bloody pillow fight among cadets last month that left 30 injured.
The rite-of-passage event on Aug. 20 that each year marks the end of summer training for freshmen cadets left two dozen of them with concussions after some participants used pillows stuffed with hard objects such as helmets. The
New York Times first reported the story Friday.
Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, academy superintendent, issued a statement Saturday saying that military police are investigating the fracas that left 30 first-year cadets —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>known as plebes —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with such injuries as<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a broken nose, dislocated shoulder and a hairline fracture of a cheekbone. Photos showed cadets with blood streaming from mouths or noses.
"I assure you that the chain of command will take appropriate action when the (police) investigation is completed," Caslen said.
The annual pillow fight by freshmen is designed to instill<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"esprit de corps" among classmates and has been an annual event for generations. It follows summer physical training and Caslen said this year's freshman class had a "tough first summer."
He said the academy has never condoned "any activity that results in harm to a teammate. Although the vast majority of the class appears to have maintained the spirit of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>event,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it is apparent that a few did not."
Caslen<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said the dozen concussions<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suffered all were minor and that academy<span style="color: Red;">*</span>medical personnel are following up in monitoring the<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>cadets to ensure that any brain injury doesn't impact their performance in school. All of the injured plebes have returned to duty.
This is the second time since Caslan became the 59th superintendent of the academy in July<span style="color: Red;">*</span>2013, that he has dealt with scandalous behavior.
He issued a statement last year accepting responsibility for alleged recruiting violations in which<span style="color: Red;">*</span>high school football players were courted with alcohol at a bowling alley party followed by a bus ride home with strobe lights, loud<span style="color: Red;">*</span>music and cheerleaders. The NCAA issued a warning to West Point regarding<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the event.
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