US army cadets at West Point banned from pillow fights

Cadets at America's most prestigious military academy have been banned from having pillow fights, according to officials.

At least 24 students at West Point were left with concussion and six with other injuries at a mass pillow fight in August after pillow cases were stuffed with hard objects. Wounds included a fractured cheek and a broken nose, while another cadet was found unconscious, reports the New York Times.

In September, a spokesman for the academy told the newspaper that the annual fight was organised by first-year students to blow off steam after a gruelling summer training programme and to build camaraderie ahead of their first full year.

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"West Point applauds the cadets' desire to build esprit and regrets the injuries to our cadets," he said. "We are conducting appropriate investigations into the causes of the injuries."

The cadets, who have now all returned to duty, admitted that in at least a few cases helmets or other "hard objects" were stuffed into the pillows. However, doctors said the injuries were largely caused by cadets falling down or being hit by "elbows or other body parts".

Videos of the fight circulating online showed some cadets wearing body armour and helmets surging together in a central quad. At one point, a smoke grenade appeared to go off, said the New York Times.

Congressional testimony suggests the pillow fights date back more than a century, but yesterday Lt Gen Robert L Caslen Jr, superintendent of the academy, said they would now be banned. In a statement, he said he was pursuing unspecified administrative disciplinary measures against those involved and intended to "send a clear message that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated".