Crapouts

Read the memory on Corps Discipline to understand violations of Corps traditions and cultures, then read this one. Remember, if a violation of Corps traditions and culture was of a particularly egregious nature, or took place early in the first semester, the entire class in an outfit might share in the consequences of a few cadets' misdeed(s). Later in the year, or for violations of an individual nature, punishment could also be individual.

The punishment event of a physical nature that represented those consequences was known as a "crapout." It could be as simple as a large number of push-ups, as complicated as a night of horror (see the memories about Steam Showers), or anything in between. In our days as students, we often were required to do a "class set", which, since we were the class of '72, represented 72 push-ups.

We all have memories of upper classmen who were particularly creative in crapping us out. I don't think Tom can, to this day, hear Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" without thinking of Mike Reid, because that's the music he played when he was crapping out his next-door fish for some sin of omission or commission. Likewise, I can no longer enjoy Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild", because that's what Neal Jackson made me play on my 7" reel-to-reel while he was crapping out me and my fish old lady, Robert (Crowbar) Case.

After push-ups and sit-ups and standing on tip-toe "reaching for the stars", there were "pink stools" where you assumed the position of sitting on a nonexistent small, pink stool for periods long enough to turn your leg and back muscles into quivering, white-hot Jell-O, and duck-walking the hall until you were one giant cramp.

For crap-outs that involved the entire class, there was always running. We were awakened in the wee hours and embarked on a run around the golf course. Frequently, we formed up and ran multiple times around the quad. One weekend, we donned fatigues and combat boots, and were led on a run to Easterwood Field and back. These runs were led by our C.O., Rusty Boggess, who was, as they say in Texas, "a runnin' fool." He frequently led outfit runs in his Senior Boots. For those of us who've worn them for extended periods, that fact is still amazing - those boots not only weren't made for walkin', they definitely weren't made for runnin' - they were designed for riding a horse.

Crapouts were obviously bad news. But, as stated in the Buzz Berries memory, one of the goals of the Corps at A&M is cohesion - Aggies stick together, CTs are loyal to the Corps, cadets are proud of their military service and outfit, and each student fiercely identifies with their class. Over 125+ years, one of the primary means of achieving cohesion, especially within each class, is adversity - the class that suffers together, bonds together, and stays together. Whatever we may think about the upper classmen we had for 3 of our 4 years as CTs, they did put us through the amount of adversity required to keep us bonded for over 35 years now.

Crapouts now come under the definition of physical hazing, which is not only against Corps and University regulations, but is a State crime. The fish Drill Team, Yell Leaders, Ross Volunteers, and Parsons' Mounted Cavalry have all been under suspension in the past couple of years for crapouts that pale in comparison to what we experienced on a routine basis. Only time will tell if there's enough adversity left in the Corps to create our kind of cohesion.

John (Yankus) Yantis