<p>I am not a grad, I am a parent of an applicant.<br>
I certainly agree with '07 and WP thaat some things are better left to the know of those who are there. </p>
<p>However the USMA has posted on their home page a section of spirit film clips. Whether you are Army or Navy you have to admit some of the creativity and execution is fantastic. </p>
<p>I assume that similar activities occur at USNA and those type of things could be enjoyed by many. The decision of what to share is again the right of those there and those in charge.</p>
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However the USMA has posted on their home page a section of spirit film clips
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<p>those spirit videos are made with the hopes that they will be played on the video scoreboard at the game as a "commercial". Navy makes their fair share too.
You can usually find a bunch by doing a search on You Tube.</p>
<p>USNA spirit clips are on youtube. just search for them. If the Mids that created them want them out in the public they will be there - if they do not they will not be where the public can find them. They create the clips hoping that they will be shown on the jumbotron. Some are created just for the fun of it too - with no intention of being made public. Mine does not post his video clips for the public to see.</p>
<p>Spirit clips were sometimes hard to see at the game, maybe the sunlight washed out the big screen at times. Better to watch them on the net. No one yet commented on the parachute teams, I thought both sets were amazing as they circled in on the field for their respective landings.</p>
<p>grad/dad and 07 are correct. Luigi do not bait. Parents should not post such things that their kid(s) have told them. I am confident that the administration will take the appropriate measures for any action needed. enuff said</p>
<p>Although I was not there, I heard a lot about the parachute teams. Family who was at game thought both were really good. The Army team apparently very impressive on hitting their target with accuracy and light landings and Navy acrobatics very cool - heard all about the two Navy jumpers joined at the feet. Family got some good photographs of the teams.</p>
<p>Husband thought that Army's spoof "Fire it Up" was really good.</p>
<p>On TV the only spot I saw was the Army's Milkmen looking like Midshipmen. Think this was old though as had seen it before.</p>
<p>The sad/funny (depends on your side of the stadium) thing about the "Fire it up" spirit spot is that it was played in the 4th quarter, and it was very effective - at "firing up" the Brigade of Midshipmen.</p>
<p>There are some wonderful spirit spots on youtube. My favorites include Kaydet Gump and the Matrix spoof. Also "Throw Some Plebe on That" is pretty hilarious.</p>
<p>I'm sick and tired of hearing people use "tradition" as an excuse to carry on and institutionalize some of our most harmful bad habits. There is something seriously wrong with a culture that results in Bancroft Hall being completely disgusting for two weeks every fall. I'm not talking about wrestling around in the hallway, commandeering cadets' uniforms, or the hilarious and creative pranks some mids (I'll admit that I don't have the skills) manage to pull off without crossing the line that separates pranks from vandalism or assault. Nor am I talking about whatever particularly awful things happened this year or any particular year. I'm talking about the things our leadership wags its finger at but still condones every year when a single line in the ROE just might get mids to start treating each other with a little bleeding dignity and respect.</p>
<p>Mids and graduates: When you're at home and trying to get fired up for a football game with your friends, do you do it by mixing up all kinds of fluids and powders, then throwing them all over your own living room floor or into your brothers' and sisters' bedrooms? That is not bonding with your comrades. Stop pretending it is. It's harassing them for your own amusement, and it's inexcusable when you teach your subordinates to do it for your amusement. My plebes know better. What's your excuse? We've got to move beyond this, or it will be the attitude we'll keep sending people to the Fleet with.</p>
<p>I'm going to close with a quotation: "Our shenanigans are cheeky and fun. And his shenanigans are cruel and tragic. Which makes them not really shenanigans at all." Do you really want to be Rod Farva?</p>
<p>Oh, and the spirit spots were pretty good this year. Unfortunately, they only played a few of them at the game---over and over. I guess the rest were a little too blue for the Jumbotron. Hooray for YouTube!</p>
<p>Yonyonson
I agree that army week does get out of hand with destroying rooms. I think that brawling in the halls has to be included in your view of things getting out of hand. Dont get me wrong, I am all about the warrior culture and the need to instill it in midshipmen however there is a time and place for that. I love to ground fight and my Marines do too however I would expect them to do it in the proper setting, not being their barracks. I feel that the problem is that midshipmen do not feel they are really in the military. The view is "I am only a midshipman" and many rules are broken because of this attitude. Adding something to the ROE probably wont make a difference because of this. Things are written into the conduct system but does that make mids abide by it, or do they still try to get away with it? As mids, many people try to get away with as much as possible. The attitude that it is cool to do as little as possible and see how long you can grow your hair out before you get in trouble. What mids fail to realize is that as junior officers, you will be responsible for upholding the standards. The fleet is not a vacation after the academy, where you make a lot of money. I think you can ask any grad, you will work longer hours and have less free time than you ever had at the academy. What needs to happen is a change in attitude and maturity not just during army week but throughout the academy experience. What mids have to ask themselves, and is usually forgotten, is if they what they are doing is something they would want their Marines of sailors seeing them do.</p>
<p>So what can be done about it, I think that is a whole different topic, but I think it needs to start with accountability. When a mid gets in trouble at the academy, it is usually only that mid that actually gets in trouble. Very rarely do you see the midshipman chain of command held responsible for anything . I am not saying we need to fry them, but they need to be held accountable for their subordinates. If this starts happening, then the leaders will take a stake in what their subordinates do, and I think some of the stupid stuff will stop. How often did you see a squad leader or platoon commander pull aside his/her plt or sqd and lay out what they expected during army week? This is perhaps the biggest difference between being a mid or being an officer in the fleet. As a JO, you are responsible for your plt. If proper actions were not taken, proper liberty briefs not given etc it is your fault, regardless if you tasked your SNCOs to do it.</p>