The Herndon Climb; May 20, 2013

| May 22, 2013

From the Washington Post. The Navy only looks ghey;

Herndon Climb

The greased Herndon Monument is pictured before the event. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered, 21-foot-high statue and remove the “dixie cup” hat at the top, replacing it with an upperclassman’s hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called “fourth-class midshipmen.” This class completed the task in 1 hour, 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando.

Category: Navy

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ChipNASA

NOPE….*TOTALLY* not gay at all…..not that there’s anything *wrong* with that…..
{;-D

CBSenior

Dixie Cup Hat, the one that represents the People they are supposed to look after. This is what the Naval Academy does, this is in no way the Navy.

ChipNASA

We have to call the Village People and have them rewrite the lyrics

“In The Navy, Yes, you can sail the 7 seas…
In the Navy, Yes, you can put your mind at ease…
In The Navy, Yes, you can half nakedly pile on top of each other to climb a lard greased monument and top it with a cute little cap….
In The NAVYYYY!!!!!!

Scubasteve

Bunch of shirtless, college age men, clambering on top of each other and a lard covered obelisk for a cap. Sounds normal.

Looks like two females on the pole on the left side of the picture though… Now that the picture’s in the news, how long will the Academy Commandant last before the harassment or hazing claims hit?

OWB

Oh-oh. They use lard?? How insensitive of them.

Hondo

Typical for the Navy – sacrificing efficiency for tradition.

One Army private using a 10- to 12-foot length of 1″ PVC pipe could have gotten this done in about 10-15 min. And it would have only taken them that long if they needed a few extra tries to get the new hat placed after getting the old one off.

But hey, it’s one of the Service Academies. Stuff there doesn’t necessarily have to make sense. (smile)

2/17 Air Cav

Women are not permitted to participate, unless their stated gender preference is male. It’s not lard. Lard is animal fat. They use only PETA-approved lard substitute. Tradition has it that the winner becomes the first admiral of the class. This year there has been a slight change. The winner will become the first transgender admiral of the class.

CBSenior

@6Hondo Admiral Nimitz once said if I sent out a Ship with nothing but Officers On-Board it would never come back. If I sent a Ship out with nothing but Enlisted On-Board it would come back but be dirty.

Ex-PH2

Five women in the pile: two at the pole, one in the middle, two at the bottom.

A_Proud_Infidel

Slicker than a pile of greased Middies!

Veritas Omnia Vincit

Wait, a bunch of dudes strip off their shirts grease a pole and then spend an hour and a half playing on it?

Sounds a lot like a woman I knew in the early ’80s…….

Twist

@1 It’s only gay if you push back or make eye contact.

Dave Thul

Once you add the women into the mix, it’s hard to believe this isn’t done at every frat house in America.

NHSparky

@8–I’ve heard that attributed to Rickover as well. Meh. Then again, they’re technically officers, after all. Remember what the plaques, awards, etc., all say: To the OFFICERS AND MEN of USS XXXXX…now we know why.

Edward1811

No love for the Navy? I guess that’s what happens after going 11-0…

AW1 Tim

Gonna be 12-0 soon too….. 🙂

I understand that the Army hopes to change it’s luck with a new mascot. They’re going to be using a soldier covered in reflective belts…….

Veritas Omnia Vincit

It’s not ghey, but it sure as hell explains a great deal….

Ex 344MP

@16 -Those Reflective Belts Save Lives! Remember, if your not wearing your reflective belt on base in the middle of a warzone, your not safe. Period.

ChipNASA

@12 Twist…..Or Balls Touch….
/LMFAO

NHSparky

It’s only gay if you like the taste. At least that’s what the Marines always told me…(ducks!)

Robot Wrangler

Sparky you ducking for any particular reason? Or is it just to get down to the right height? 😀

NHSparky

Hey, we have Marines on ships cause sheep are too obvious.

Veritas Omnia Vincit

@ 20 I thought the line was, “I’m not ghey the guy blowing me is”…..

GunzRunner

If it wasn’t for Sailors, soap on a rope never would have been invented. It’s standard issue to Marines on both coasts.

The Poet Laureate

Just in case anyone was looking for additional photos, BuzzFeed has a nice roundup. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/glorious-pictures-of-hot-shirtless-navy-freshmen-climbing

2/17 Air Cav

“If it wasn’t for Sailors, soap on a rope never would have been invented.” Bwahahahahahahaah. Hey, I’m not laughing at the gay joke. I just remembered something that was funny. Not that. Really.

Sparks

Having hernia surgery tomorrow and feeling kinda down. Thanks for the laughs brothers. I needed it this afternoon! Gotta love you guys. (I wasn’t in the Navy) But to be fair to my Navy brothers I was Army and went…yea…Air Force. Up we go…

jon spencer

That climb is where the Navy football coaches find players.
Seems to be working too, at least for the last ten years.

RM3(SS)

If you only do it once, it’s experimentation. Not ghey at all.