Fights

I have a beatdown story and a heck of a faculty/cadet encounter.

Spring 1989 on a leave weekend, I was left in command of the platoon as the ranking cadet left (buck sergeant) as everyone else went home (it was cold so I think it may have been the first leave weekend after Christmas). A few of my platoon mates thought it would be fun Friday afternoon to beat up the platoon "geek". Usually our Platoon Sergeant (a huge PG that had been in JROTC so they made him a SFC) protected this guy but SFC DuPont? was on leave. They pounded on this guy with lacrosse gloves, lax sticks, and a dustmop and it was just not goofing around. I caught them, separated them, and wrote up the 4 troublemakers. Colonel Radcliffe had the duty that weekend and reamed those guys good. All four participants marched tours all night Friday and all day Saturday. All during Saturday inspection I got nothing but dirty looks from them.

Fast forward to Retreat that Saturday evening. The platoon was formed up in the hallway for check-off, getting ready to go downstairs. The ringleader of the gang decided he's going to mouth off and refuse to do anything I say. He starts yelling and screaming and cursing at me. I calmly wrote him up for 5 different infractions and walked off. He charges me from behind. One of my squadmates yelled a warning. I had just enough time to turn around to see this kid (who'll remain nameless) get yanked out of mid-air and jacked against the wall.

Colonel Radcliffe had come up the fire escape on 3rd floor Memorial Hall and snuck in the fire door with nobody noticing. The fire escape hallway was dark and he was wearing his camo field jacket he always wore. Radcliffe saw this kid charge me. Radcliffe comes out of the fire escape like an avenging angel, grabs the kid's jacket collar, spins him in mid-air (the kid was a bit chunky too), and jacks him against the wall. He then proceeded a pull a "Full Metal Jacket" D.I. scream-fest on the kid. The Colonel turned to me, face beet red, and yells "Sergeant O'Neil! Get your platoon down to the main deck now!" My platoon went down that center stairwell in three seconds flat. 2nd Platoon heard the commotion and came down right behind us. 3rd Platoon Echo was so scared that they went down the far staircase on their end (which they never did for formation) just as fast as we did.

The kid never made it to formation and I don't know what Radcliffe did to him. The cadet never so much as looked at me funny for the remainder of the year. Nobody in 3rd Platoon Charlie did anything to that "geeky kid" for the rest of the year.
We were scared of Radcliffe before that but this event sealed the deal. It was as if he magically appeared out of thin air. The Legend of Radcliffe lives on....

That was the biggest non-horseplay thing I ever saw.