In the USN now, it's completely voluntary and there are very strict rules on what can occur during the ceremony. And probably close to 100% of the senior office

In the USN now, it's completely voluntary and there are very strict rules on what can occur during the ceremony. And probably close to 100% of the senior officers in the Navy are (at least privately) completely supportive of the new policy; the old initiation rituals were definitely illegal and were a constant source of concern for Navy leadership. In a crew of hundreds, there will always be a handful of honest-to-god sadists who would delight in the chance to pour hot sauce on wogs' genitals and make them crawl on hot non-skidded decks. So one trick the ships do now is to have a all-hands call to announce the ground rules, secretly note the names of everybody who complains about it being too lenient and then make sure that those guys are standing watch during the ceremony. P.S. Shellback since 1998...