[Mil Times] A Royal Navy pilot became the permanent poster boy for remedial physical training Sunday when a drinking game went terribly wrong, leaving the too-hefty officer physically lodged in a precarious position for nearly six hours.Lt. Tommy Brownlee, 26, had just enjoyed the festivities of an annual mess night at Royal Navy Air Station Yeovilton near Somerset, England, when he and a few other brass decided the night was yet young, and a drinking game was in order.
The officers chose a contest known as the Chimney Challenge, an inebriation-produced obstacle course that, if completed, awards the champion an ever-coveted prize of more drinks, according to The Sun.
Believing himself to be Chimney Challenge worthy, Brownlee stepped up in "I am Spartacus" level solidarity with his fellow drunks.
To complete his well-oiled itinerary, Brownlee would have to enter one section of the building’s two-chimney system, shimmy his way up a narrow column toward one of the system’s vents, crawl his way across a roof space to the other chimney, then carefully slide down that column head-first.
"Apparently it’s an annual initiation the officers do where they climb up one chimney and down another into the bar," one source confirmed in a message to the popular British military humor Facebook page, Fill Your Boots UK.
The officer accomplished the first sections of the challenge with the grace of an Olympian gymnast.
Entering the home stretch, an upside-down Brownlee could peer down and see remnants of light from the officers’ mess and hear the joyous cheers of the comrades who would soon celebrate his Herculean feat.