Ali
11-28-2005, 03:54 AM
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1652414,00.html
A video (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4476454.stm#) of an initiation ceremony showing young Royal Marines forced to fight naked and one apparently beaten unconscious was condemned yesterday by embarrassed defence officials and senior officers.
But while the Ministry of Defence insisted its policy was one of "zero tolerance" on bullying, privately officials suggested the incident was a "a bit of fun that got out of hand". Although the episode took place last May, a criminal investigation by the military police was set up less than two weeks ago.
Defence officials said yesterday the ceremony was not part of any training programme and directed their fire at the whistleblower who gave the video to the News of the World, which published a full page of photographs. They say it took place at the end of the marines' 32 weeks' basic training and no officer or senior NCO was present.
the video was filmed by a marine who watched the ceremony in a field at 42 Commando's base at Bickleigh Barracks in Devon. It shows two marines at the centre of a large group of men. All are naked save for one man in a surgeon's scrubs and one wearing a schoolgirl uniform.
At first the two marines fight with mats rolled around their arms but the man in the surgeon's outfit appears to instruct them to use bare fists. One of them seems to refuse and is kicked in the face. The attack appears to leave him unconscious."a bit of fun that got out of hand" :rolleyes:
Anybody want to join the Royal Marines? Sounds like fun, especially if you are a closet fag with a taste for violence.
The Conservative party's spokesman for homeland security Patrick Mercer said he had come across this sort of thing occasionally during his 26 years in the Army.
"I can't tell you how damaging it is," he said.
"Just imagine a young man turning up in his unit and being made to wrestle naked in a field while his non-commissioned officers are dressed up in women's frillies. I mean, it's not very dignified stuff, is it?" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4475034.stm :p
A video (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4476454.stm#) of an initiation ceremony showing young Royal Marines forced to fight naked and one apparently beaten unconscious was condemned yesterday by embarrassed defence officials and senior officers.
But while the Ministry of Defence insisted its policy was one of "zero tolerance" on bullying, privately officials suggested the incident was a "a bit of fun that got out of hand". Although the episode took place last May, a criminal investigation by the military police was set up less than two weeks ago.
Defence officials said yesterday the ceremony was not part of any training programme and directed their fire at the whistleblower who gave the video to the News of the World, which published a full page of photographs. They say it took place at the end of the marines' 32 weeks' basic training and no officer or senior NCO was present.
the video was filmed by a marine who watched the ceremony in a field at 42 Commando's base at Bickleigh Barracks in Devon. It shows two marines at the centre of a large group of men. All are naked save for one man in a surgeon's scrubs and one wearing a schoolgirl uniform.
At first the two marines fight with mats rolled around their arms but the man in the surgeon's outfit appears to instruct them to use bare fists. One of them seems to refuse and is kicked in the face. The attack appears to leave him unconscious."a bit of fun that got out of hand" :rolleyes:
Anybody want to join the Royal Marines? Sounds like fun, especially if you are a closet fag with a taste for violence.
The Conservative party's spokesman for homeland security Patrick Mercer said he had come across this sort of thing occasionally during his 26 years in the Army.
"I can't tell you how damaging it is," he said.
"Just imagine a young man turning up in his unit and being made to wrestle naked in a field while his non-commissioned officers are dressed up in women's frillies. I mean, it's not very dignified stuff, is it?" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4475034.stm :p