American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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your ass all day long. Then, when you’re done, the platoon will go out
and party. When we’re out on a training mission, we usually drive
around in large, twelve-passenger vans. A new guy always drives.
Which, of course, means he can’t drink when we hit the bars, at least
not to SEAL standards.
That’s the mildest form of hazing. In fact, it’s so mild it’s not really
hazing.
Choking him out while he’s driving—that’s hazing.
One night soon after I joined my platoon, we were out partying
after a training mission. When we left the bar, all the older guys piled
into the back. I wasn’t driving, but I had no problem with that—I like
to sit up front. We were speeding along for a while and all of a sudden
I heard, “One-two-three-four, I declare a van war.”
The next thing I knew, I was pummeled. “Van war” meant it was
open season on the new guys. I came out of that one with bruised ribs
and a black eye, maybe two. I must have gotten my lip busted a dozen
times during hazing.
I should say that van wars are separate from bar fights, another
SEAL staple. SEALs are pretty notorious for getting into bar scrapes,
and I was no exception. I’ve been arrested more than once through the
years, though as a general rule the charges were either never filed or
quickly dismissed.
Why do SEALs fight so much
I haven’t made a scientific study of it, but I think a lot is owed to
pent-up aggression. We’re trained to go out and kill people. And then,
at the same time, we’re also being taught to think of ourselves as
invincible bad-asses. That’s a pretty potent combination.