In Charleston, SC, when there are slow news days (not enough accidents or police/school scandals or the Gamecocks are in a slump), the local newspaper (The Post and Courier) likes to occasionally snipe at The Citadel.Recently, they published an article about hazing at my beloved Alma Mater which, like most articles about hazing at military schools, was just a little slanted. Generally these stories are built around a very small cadre of former cadets who went home after quitting early and have to come up with some excuse other than "I just didn't like it.", or, "It wasn't for me." Even Rick Reilly (when he was at Sports Illustrated) jumped into the bash The Citadel game back in 1992.
A former Marine a fellow alumnus penned a letter to the P&C editor in response to the article. Here's the link and the letter:
I am writing to comment on your June 13 article titled "Hazing remains a Citadel tradition: Cadets, parents question effectiveness of school's attempts to quash behavior." The title of this biased article implies incorrectly that The Citadel condones hazing and thus it occurs annually as an accepted "tradition." That is not the case.
I am both a proud Citadel graduate and an equally proud retired officer of the U.S. Marine Corps. These are two elite military corps I prize above others -- the U.S. Marine Corps and the South Carolina Corps of Cadets. Why? Because both espouse qualities and ideals that I value highly, believe in strongly and have long strived to live by.
What is the basis of the organizational success of these two corps? What is the root cause of their strong reputation for toughness, esprit de corps and discipline? These militarily advantageous qualities result from a commonly held sense of pride in belonging to an elite unit. What makes these units' members believe they are special? Their members' sense of having passed through a common crucible, a rite of passage of such duration and intensity that it makes its survivors proud, self-reliant and confident in their ability to adapt and overcome all challenges and challengers. Plus the knowledge that they have passed a rigid test of membership, like all who have gone before them. For the U.S. Marine Corps, this crucible is recruit training for all enlisted personnel, and OCS for its officers. At The Citadel, it is the plebe system. As the famed ancient Greek historian Thucydides once remarked, "He is toughest who is trained in the severest school." The Citadel is that school.
I served on the cadet training cadre for new cadet recruits my three upper-class years at The Citadel. Later, as a serving officer in the Marine Corps, I trained recruits at Parris Island and officer candidates at Quantico. The commonality of training methodology among Parris Island, Quantico and The Citadel is amazing in my professional experience.
What is even more impressive is that cadet NCOs are not as old and not yet as well trained or experienced as veteran Marine NCO drill instructors who perform a very similar task. Yet the cadets do an amazingly professional job nonetheless. Like Marine recruit training and OCS, the severe plebe system is to The Citadel what the equally severe recruit training and OCS regimen is to the Marine Corps -- it is the basic building block of who we are as Citadel men/women and as Marines.
The plebe system is intended to be stressful for a useful purpose. I hated every day of my knob year, but no other life experience has been as meaningful, personally or professionally. I wouldn't want to go through it again, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
Tough though it is, it is of benefit. One example is Capt. Al Kroboth, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired) ('69). Al was the captain of the Bulldogs' basketball team my knob year. He was shot down on a combat mission over North Vietnam and captured on July 7, 1972, after having suffered a broken back and broken neck on ejection. Captured shortly thereafter and held for three months in the jungle with little food, he was then marched barefoot at night, amidst heavy U.S. bombing raids, up the Ho Chi Minh Trail about 350 miles to Hanoi and the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison. With intense pain, only rice balls for food and suffering from skin rashes and boils over his entire body, he survived while fiercely resisting his North Vietnamese captors.
Al was later asked by former teammate and famed author and Citadel grad Pat Conroy ('67),
"How did you make it, Al?"
Capt. Kroboth replied, "The plebe system -- I am a Citadel man."
Do acts considered to be hazing occur occasionally? Probably. Should they? No. Does the college investigate all allegations of hazing and severely discipline violators of pertinent regulations? Yes. Does the college encourage or tolerate hazing? No.
Since 2003 I have served in Iraq and Afghanistan with many young Citadel graduates who are company grade Army and Marine Corps officers, and they were all superb troop leaders. They are all products of that system. Nobody said plebe year would be fun, but it was a worthwhile learning experience.
I have the utmost confidence in the positive leadership being provided by Lt. Gen. Rosa and Col. Mercado, along with numerous tactical officers, and the cadet chain of command.
Your article does a disservice to the entire Citadel family. Let's give them our support and not snipe at this venerable and historic Charleston institution.
Walter F. McTernan
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
The Citadel Class of 1972
Taji, Iraq
Bravo Zulu to you, Colonel.
(The bold face above was mine for emphasis.)
And a short walk down memory lane....
Yours truly as a little knobby is somewhere in this 1986 picture (and so is a recent Space Shuttle astronaut, BTW).
Yours truly is also somewhere in this picture the day before graduation in 1991.
