Nuking

From USAFA Folklore

Jump to: navigation, search

On an upperclass cadet's first solo flight (or birthday, engagement or some other cause for celebration), the smacks often "nuke" him. To do this, they assault his room just before Taps, kidnap him, and duct tape or otherwise restrain him. The upperclassman is taken outdoors, sometimes in a cart. He may be tied to a tree or a pole or an aircraft display. The fourthclassmen then proceed to cover him with ketchup, mustard, milk, and all manner of other condiments snuck out of Mitchell Hall. Some squadrons use nuking as an excuse for a hall brawl as the upper class cadets defend their own. During Army Week and Navy Week, the exchange cadets are targets of nuking.

The nuking may vary depending on how much the upperclassman is liked (or disliked) by the fourth class cadets. A well-liked upperclassman may get more of a "celebratory" nuking, while a disliked upperclassman is more likely to get a nuking that includes piss or rotten milk, or a nuking concontion that has sat around for days or months to make it especially rancid. Smacks may also use edge dressing to write their class year on his skin.

In earlier days, nuking could be much less elaborate. Examples of nuking another cadet's room include:

  • filling an envelope with shaving cream, sealing it, slitting the end open, sliding the open end of the envelope under a room's door, and stomping on the envelope, thus delivering the shaving cream in a wide dispersal pattern
  • Using two strips of t-shirt, thumb tacks and shaving cream---tack on strip in 2-3 places around the bottom of shaving cream can, suspend can from the room light fixture, twist can until hanging can is well wound. Pull tacked strip and make hasty exit. Don't use Gel type. *This also works nicely as a stand alone in the center console of a car. From the passenger side, run a strip of t-shirt to the driver side door under the seat to the shaving cream can with tacks. A simple full turn with appropriate tension is best. Opening the door rolls the can and pulls the tacks.
  • holding any aerosol can up to the loeuvers over the top of a room's door and lighting the substance with a lighter while it is being sprayed, sending a flame in the room at a height unlikely to hurt anyone but that would draw attention
  • Dropping an AAFES bag fill with water or some such into the quad on festive sunbathers or swung into next lower window during finals festivities. They hold a lot of water. Do be careful to not actually hit the bathers; you might hurt someone.

[edit] Examples

The Class of 1991 nuking 2 squids during Navy week. Since the squids were cool about it (they put on their "combat" uniforms, and took on the whole squad of freshman) their nuke does not contain any fecal matter. (e-mail, 10-4-1998)

This is what the 4 degrees of CS-15 (The Wiggles) do if one of our nerdy upperclassmen tries to train us. We thought if he was a missle he could better protect C-Springs. 2004 READY FOR WAR!

Recently, during the NCLS week, we had a ROTC kid, started training my classmates, Class of '04 (who were 3-Degrees at the time)! This kid thought that because he was ROTC, and older than us, he could come to our turf and train us. We had to set him straight. It started with a 4ยบ crawling under 4 tables at lunch, to pour chocolate syrup on his shoes. Later, duing a briefing, this kid stood up, and asked a 5 minute question, to this day, still no one knows what he was asking. He didnt get the message. We had to show him how things were done at USAFA...we hung him from the wing of the F-4 on the T-zo.

Retrieved from "http://www.usafatoday.org/wiki/index.php/Nuking"