Martin Dempsey, Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, Condemns Hazing

WASHINGTON -- Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is condemning hazing as intolerable in the military. But he says such problems appear to be isolated incidents.

Dempsey's comments come after eight soldiers in Afghanistan were charged in the death of a New York City private who officials say was subjected to hazing and appears to have committed suicide.

In a message to troops posted on Facebook and Twitter, Dempsey says hazing undermines the military's values, tarnishes its reputation and "erodes the trust that bonds us."

He says hazing, or even just observing hazing without reporting it, is wrong.

The soldiers face charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to dereliction of duty in the death of 19-year-old Army Pvt. Daniel Chen.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[wlkcrk]

07:01 PM on 12/23/2011

When I was drafted there was NO hazing. Back then draftees were just out of high school and very young. This sounds like little high school kids who never grew up. Officers and non commissioned officers should be above this childish behavior and should be punished.

[wonderfullone]

04:58 PM on 12/23/2011

I'm a retired Marine Sgt. and 2 tours of combat duty in South Vietnam War.---------I think hazing is wrong.------------I used to tell my men if you want to prove how bad you are, take it out on the enemy and not your own comrades.--------We are on the same team.

[bluefalcon06]

01:44 PM on 01/22/2012

I like your post!

[Jim bob]

04:37 PM on 12/23/2011

Hate to shine the light of reality here. But the military is macho, and macho men cut people out and move them on. Don't know what the effect of women will be, but I imagine it will be macho women, so the effect will be the same. I hope not. This is about getting medals and proving your bravery and having no fear, so as a result, those things become ends in themselves, and proving you're better than the next guy is just part of the deal. That's what hazing does. It's an organized response to someone who you're fixin' to look down on. And the military requires that.

[px123]

10:53 AM on 12/24/2011

Excuse me sir, I think you have twisted the meaning of hazing or you just don't know what the poor boy went through. If you were in the same shoes that he was, I do NOT believe that you can tolerate that upon the military code. By the way, the army tolerates ZERO hazing, so they DO NOT require that. You're right about that the military is tough, but cutting others out does not mean to make fun of them and putting them down with racist jokes and physical abuse! You can simply do that by doing better than that person. It is just a shame how you agree on such a heinous matter.

[Jim bob]

12:05 PM on 12/24/2011

It doesn't say I agree. I'm saying this is what people do to each other. Sir.

[wyb]

04:27 PM on 12/23/2011

The high suicide rate in the armed forces is very closely connected with the contruct of weakness. Decades ago police department personnel disparged getting help for alcoholism, domestic abuse, and emotional problems and would actively sabatoge services. The "strong" vs "weak" fears are still pervasive, and fears of being found out significant. The "Lord of the Flies" culture will not stop until perps trying to deal with their masculinity issues, at the expense of others, are culled out.

[jonathan6773]

04:22 PM on 12/23/2011

Hazing needs to stop in the military, fraternities, high schools, sports or wherever. They should've been trained to report this, obviously not. As pointed out, General Martin Dempsey should be standing tall and not slouching. When our Declaration of Independence was written, 32 of the delegates stood up tall with confidence and signed it.

[fitzag]

04:29 PM on 12/23/2011

This was not hazing it was acted of hatred against someone who was different from them.

[joshua detwiler]

02:15 PM on 12/23/2011

This is never going to stop in the infantry people get over it. Its a by product of taking children 17-19 and training them to kill. Its like theres always some hazing on a football team right well take that and multiply it by 1000. Of course its wrong and of course it shouldn't be but the reality its just what happen when you put kids in these situations. Tragic but thats life.

[UtahSlim]

03:05 PM on 12/23/2011

It certainly won't stop with a tweet from the chief. How about discharging every commanding officer up the line, ending with himself. Think that might get institutional attention? How about screening out the psycho losers that are such coveted prizes for recruiters?

[MotivatedMarine0311]

03:54 PM on 12/23/2011

How about we just make sure wea|

[MotivatedMarine0311]

03:55 PM on 12/23/2011

How about we just make sure we/\kl|ngs like you dont get in?

[parlimentMike]

02:11 PM on 12/23/2011

Send the military home until there is a threat.

[MotivatedMarine0311]

03:53 PM on 12/23/2011

How do you define "threat"? Wait till we're attacked? Because there are threats against america posted daily on the internet.

[parlimentMike]

06:48 PM on 12/23/2011

Let's figure out how big the threats are. They're are certainly less than $600 billion. The nature of security forces is to impose control through violence. Keep feeding them money, they'll keep selling violent control. There's a place for that in a sane society, but it;s not every place, and that used to be the genius of America. We had a balance.

We surrendered to fear on 9/11/01 and unscrupulous people have cynically fed that for personal gain. I'm getting pretty bored with my fellow Americans who will accept anything if someone says "boo!"

Freedom, civil rights, and using public funds for the public good protect us. Occupying the World weakens us.

[Jim bob]

11:23 PM on 12/23/2011

Yeah, wait till we're attacked. When did this become not a no brainer? A real duh moment here.

[MotivatedMarine0311]

02:10 PM on 12/23/2011

General "sadstack" needs to sit upright in his chair.

[MotivatedMarine0311]

02:09 PM on 12/23/2011

This soldier made a mistake signing up in the first place. The army boot camp is weak and their low infantry standards let these weaklings in. Hence, this tragedy. Hazing is part of the infantry culture, if you cant hang with that, dont sign up. Chances are this guy was weak and/or lazy and would have probably gotten people killed in country. Hopefully this will raise the standards in Army bootcamp so weakbodies like this dont fall through the cracks.

[UtahSlim]

03:07 PM on 12/23/2011

Hopefully, this will lead to psycho losers like you being deemed unsuitable for service.

[MotivatedMarine0311]

03:51 PM on 12/23/2011

Hopefully this will lead to weaklings like not signing up just because they want to milk the tax-payer for "free" college money.

[MotivatedMarine0311]

03:51 PM on 12/23/2011

*weaklings like you

[bhaines213]

02:08 PM on 12/23/2011

Instead of just saying that hazing is wrong, Gen. Dempsey should say what he’s doing to end the practice. Waiting until a death is involved is unacceptable.

[MotivatedMarine0311]

02:06 PM on 12/23/2011

I guess we slouch in uniform now don't we Sir?

We were "hazed" and we "hazed" back once we became squad leaders, its part of the culture. If you cant hang don't sign up.

[px123]

11:02 AM on 12/24/2011

I'm sorry, but the last time I recalled the military DOES NOT tolerate hazing. No one deserves it and that is why it should not be done. Perhaps you would say such a thing because you were not in his shoes, if this particular situation is thrown at you how would you feel sir? Also, please stop with the caustic remarks, the guy is dead, may he rest in peace.

[px123]

11:05 AM on 12/24/2011

BTW I guess that you did not know that many of the ones charged had criminal records. What does that tell you? As far as I know, one of them tried to rape his ex-girlfriend and his room mates found the girl screaming with blood on her face. These people have moral defects. I think that before the army enlists these people in, they better run a more thorough background check and double ensure that this person is not a sadistic abuser of some sort!

[teachone]

01:25 PM on 12/23/2011

THIS MUST STOP!!!! HAZING IS BULLYING, CREATE LAWS AND PROSECUTE THOSE WHO HAZE OR BULLY, PLEASE!!!!!!!

[vinunleaded02]

01:19 PM on 12/23/2011

...Its the culture in the infantry, you get plssed on then you try to plss on others as soon as you get the chance. If you are nice or 'weak' enough, you will be everyone's punching bag. Even in this soldier’s last minute, he chose not to plss on others. May him rest in peace. I myself and other soldiers have fell asleep as well. It was our fault but we all received proper punishments and that was the end of it. This soldier was obviously singled out so much that he did not feel like part of the brotherhood and did what he thought was the only way out. It’s a shame this soldier’s previous chain of command is using this to justify their screw up.

[vinunleaded02]

01:19 PM on 12/23/2011

Being an infantryman in a combat zone is already high enough stress, dealing with these scums will push you to the edge. I've seen a white infantryman who is so tough not many people want to cross him. He was being picked on by his team leader so much one night he snuck in the guys tent and almost put a bullet in his head. Thank god he didnt. Remember when the war first started a MusIim soldier tossed a grenade in his comrads tent? They said he couldnt accept the fact that the country was going to war with a MusIim country. Anyone who experience the infantry will know he was probably being picked on.
The military's poor screening process let these scms in. They form cliques and pick on people who are not worthy of their group. Some even get to be NCO and when a dispute come between these supposely NCOs and the victim, the higher chain of command will always listen to the NCO because it will always be.."oh im just trying to toughen him up". And because sadly, dealing with the enemies alone is a lot on the commander's plate already. The officers and squad leaders will most likely avoid dealing with stuff like this and expect the soldiers to protect themselves from each other.