Military Rite Of Passage
Rite of Passage
ANT101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Cora Dunaway
July 14, 2014
When one thinks of the term “Rite of Passage” it’s generally thought of as old world traditions involving some sort of circumcision or test of strength, to become a man. Upon researching the topic several articles and journals covering these types of rituals was found. After further research I found that not only is the military considered its own culture but within the military are other cultures. Special Operations or Special Forces culture is the elite group among the military they are trained to endure the most grueling circumstances. Rites of passage to join these groups are vigorous mentally and physically, …show more content…
This training lasts 6 months in Coronado, CA at the Naval Special Warfare Training Center (Divine, 2014). SEAL’s are an elite group of men who are pushed to the limits and beyond realizing along the way they can do more than ever thought possible. In his article “Hell Week” Waller (1994) emphasizes, “Hell Week is a sacred rite of passage for becoming a SEAL […] that a man driven to the limits […] during Hell Week […] Those who quit […] are the ones Navy SEALs believe would quit in their real-world missions. Hell Week teaches a commando to turn off pain and focus on his mission.” (para. 5). Every trainee is assigned a “swim buddy” they are instructed and embedded from the beginning to never leave their swim buddy. Leave no man behind is more than a saying for these prestigious warriors it engrained in everything they do from day 1 of their training. Hell week starts with trainees being woke up by instructors running in firing machine guns with blanks. The …show more content…
The day starts at 4:30 A.M. and doesn’t stop until after sunset. They are put through a daily routine of circuit training involving swimming, running and calisthenics. The instructors also give what they call “smoke sessions” which are marathon workouts that make recruits muscles burn. This training is a warm up for the pool or the “water confidence training”. More trainees fail this part of the passage than any other. Motivation week as the PJs call it is the Air Force’s version of SEAL Hell Week it’s a kinder gentler military now days. Motivation week is similar to SEAL’s Hell week as in the instructor’s abuse the trainees making them perform with little to no sleep. Constantly testing them mentally and physically. Similar to SEAL training these airmen also get ridiculed and are tested physically and emotionally. They go a step further and incorporate the EMT course in to everything a course that would be difficult on a normal basis is made harder while continuing physical training and remembering dive training, and survival training. These men in their 2 years of training become expert marksmen, mountain climbers, certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) among a list of things. The indoctrination course is just the beginning of training. Two months of running, swimming and calisthenics designed to
ANT101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Cora Dunaway
July 14, 2014
When one thinks of the term “Rite of Passage” it’s generally thought of as old world traditions involving some sort of circumcision or test of strength, to become a man. Upon researching the topic several articles and journals covering these types of rituals was found. After further research I found that not only is the military considered its own culture but within the military are other cultures. Special Operations or Special Forces culture is the elite group among the military they are trained to endure the most grueling circumstances. Rites of passage to join these groups are vigorous mentally and physically, …show more content…
This training lasts 6 months in Coronado, CA at the Naval Special Warfare Training Center (Divine, 2014). SEAL’s are an elite group of men who are pushed to the limits and beyond realizing along the way they can do more than ever thought possible. In his article “Hell Week” Waller (1994) emphasizes, “Hell Week is a sacred rite of passage for becoming a SEAL […] that a man driven to the limits […] during Hell Week […] Those who quit […] are the ones Navy SEALs believe would quit in their real-world missions. Hell Week teaches a commando to turn off pain and focus on his mission.” (para. 5). Every trainee is assigned a “swim buddy” they are instructed and embedded from the beginning to never leave their swim buddy. Leave no man behind is more than a saying for these prestigious warriors it engrained in everything they do from day 1 of their training. Hell week starts with trainees being woke up by instructors running in firing machine guns with blanks. The …show more content…
The day starts at 4:30 A.M. and doesn’t stop until after sunset. They are put through a daily routine of circuit training involving swimming, running and calisthenics. The instructors also give what they call “smoke sessions” which are marathon workouts that make recruits muscles burn. This training is a warm up for the pool or the “water confidence training”. More trainees fail this part of the passage than any other. Motivation week as the PJs call it is the Air Force’s version of SEAL Hell Week it’s a kinder gentler military now days. Motivation week is similar to SEAL’s Hell week as in the instructor’s abuse the trainees making them perform with little to no sleep. Constantly testing them mentally and physically. Similar to SEAL training these airmen also get ridiculed and are tested physically and emotionally. They go a step further and incorporate the EMT course in to everything a course that would be difficult on a normal basis is made harder while continuing physical training and remembering dive training, and survival training. These men in their 2 years of training become expert marksmen, mountain climbers, certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) among a list of things. The indoctrination course is just the beginning of training. Two months of running, swimming and calisthenics designed to