An Air Force Academy tradition of throwing cadet first sergeants into the snow ended in a brawl that left 23 cadets in need of medical care Oct. 25, according to an internal academy email obtained by Air Force Times.

Cadets participating in a tradition known as First Shirt/First Snow suffered a wide range of injuries including concussions, cuts that required stitches, and a human bite on the arm of at least one cadet, according to an email sent to Academy department heads and deputy heads by Dean of Faculty Brigadier Gen. Dana Born.

“Per the commandant — On Thursday night the cadets carried out a ritual known as First Shirt/First Snow, a ‘tradition’ that goes back to an unknown time in the past since we’ve added cadet first sergeants to the cadet squadrons,” Born wrote in the Oct. 28 email. “This ritual has devolved to become increasingly violent, with significant numbers of cadets requiring medical care over the past two years. What used to be four degrees throwing the first shirt into the snow has turned into a brawl between upperclassmen defending the first sergeant and the four degrees trying to capture the first sergeant.

“Obviously, this has gotten out of hand and cannot be repeated,” Born wrote in her email. “There is no way we can condone or defend this.”Click here to read more

A brawl left 23 cadets injured after an Air Force Academy tradition of throwing the first cadet first sergeant into the snow. Above, cadets line up at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Photo by AIR FORCE