Army Cadets Tried to Get Navy’s Goat, Again. Commanders Were Not Amused.
The New York Times
Rivalries among the nation’s military academies include a long history of mascot-stealing “spirit missions” before football games, despite official condemnations.
Under the cover of darkness over the weekend, Army cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point crept into a secret compound, on a mission so dear to the cadet corps that it has survived generations of evolving warfare and official rebuke: stealing Bill the goat.
The goat is the mascot of the Naval Academy, the 37th in the line of goats of various breeds to hold that distinction. All 37 have been named Bill, and over the last 70 years, Army cadets have stolen Bill at least 10 times, beginning in 1953 with a plan that involved a convertible and some chloroform.
Navy midshipmen once nabbed the Army’s mule mascots as well. And Air Force Academy cadets have gotten a few heists in.
