Watched TLC (The Learning Channel) last nite. Watched the Navy SEALs "candidates" go through their "Hell Week". The instuctors said that the sole purpose of the hazing ritual was to weed out the people who really didnt want to be Navy SEALS. Interesting concept huh? The people who really didnt want to be there quit and went home. No questions asked. The "instuctors" had the "candidates" perform menial tasks that had nothing to do with combat training. The only purpose of some of the tasks were to create confusion, instill the team work ethic, and to TOTALLY stress out the "candidate". Stuff like surf torture (submersion in hypothermia inducing water), boat pushup (Even after one of the members has passed out), sleep and food deprivation, and tons of abrasive sand on the body to rub the skin raw. Sounds like hazing to me. The instructors were qouted as saying that if a candidate couldnt hang thru "Hell Week" then he didnt want him in the brotherhood of the SEALS. Whats good enough for the Seals is not good enough for my organization? Who decides that? The SEAL candidates werent forced to stay. They could've left at anytime. Those that really wanted it stuck around. Did the very first Nave SEALS go thru “Hell Week” ? My Fraternities Founding Fathers didn’t go thru “Hell Week” either. But yet the SEALS see the purging process as necessary procedure. Does this ritual make the SEALS a better organization? Why cant my organization strive for the same level (or higher )of "brotherhood"?
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