# I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648 "2012-02-03T14:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/81 "2012-02-05T09:56:14Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > You folks have not seen a drill sargeant until you’ve seen MY drill sargeant. > > Admittedly, she was not a Marine DI, she was U.S. Army. But the first time we met her Drill Sargeant Ogg(her real name!) scared the crap out of us! Wait, [Nanny Ogg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanny_Ogg)is in the Marines 😕 ? I wouldn’t have thought she’d fit the type. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/82 "2012-02-05T10:33:50Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Wait, [Nanny Ogg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanny_Ogg)is in the Marines 😕 ? I wouldn’t have thought she’d fit the type. That’s great. [Bob Filner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Filner)’s mother? ---
**Author:** ![Zweedo\_Rodriguez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b487fb/32.png) [@Zweedo\_Rodriguez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweedo_Rodriguez)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/83 "2012-02-05T13:39:41Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Is it worth a spin-off thread to investigate other DI’s that might compare with R. Lee? > > Can there be a more convincing one? [Gunny Hightower (Eastwood)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091187/) is the only one I can think of offhand who even comes close. Warren Oates as Sgt Hulka in [Stripes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083131/). ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/84 "2012-02-05T13:40:25Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The most memorable Hartman line, for me: > > “Today is Christmas. There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty!” > > For years, I wondered why the fuck they would have a _magic show_ for Christmas. It wasn’t until a few months ago, when I was reading a web page about Marine Corps slang, that I learned that “magic show” means a religious service. Ermey had to explain to Kubrick what a “reach around” was-reportedly got a good chuckle out of the usually taciturn director when he told him. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/85 "2012-02-05T13:56:10Z")
As someone who served in the British Army in the 60s Gunnery Sergeant Hartman brought back many memories. The drill sergeants over here are cut from exactly the same cloth as Hartman. They all seem to be brilliant natural comedians with stunningly funny lines. The only problem is that you’re not allowed to laugh! I can’t count the number of times I drew their unwelcome attention on the parade ground because I just couldn’t contain my laughter when some other poor bastard was being ripped apart. The guy in the 50s who had the reputation of having the loudest bark in the British Army was [Regimental Sergeant Major Britten](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0110094/). He made a number of movies in which he put that bark to good effect. ---
**Author:** ![laughingboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@laughingboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laughingboy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/86 "2012-02-05T16:41:33Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I will motivate you Private Pyle if it short dicks every cannibal on the Congo! > > short dicks every cannibal in the Congo. I have no idea what it means, but it’s my favorite line of the whole movie. I think he’s saying that he’ll whip Pyle into such good shape that the cannibals will no longer be aroused at the prospect of eating Pyle’s currently fat-laden body. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/87 "2012-02-05T17:13:44Z")
Hartman would be nearly speechless in todays army. A lot of his insults/obscenities were gay slurs. I’ve read DI’s can’t even curse out a recruit anymore. I’ve seen modern day boot camps on Discovery and Military channel. The DI’s are still very tough and the physical training brutal. They just don’t have Hartman’s gift of colorful language. 😉 I read an interview years ago and R Lee talked about being a DI. He said the DI’s looked at causality reports and found names they trained. It tore them up inside. That made them train recruits even harder and try to give them the skills to survive. > [@](#): > > Do you suck dicks? Are you a peter puffer? Bullshit! You look like you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose! ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/88 "2012-02-05T17:22:17Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The most memorable Hartman line, for me: > > “Today is Christmas. There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty!” > > For years, I wondered why the fuck they would have a _magic show_ for Christmas. It wasn’t until a few months ago, when I was reading a web page about Marine Corps slang, that I learned that “magic show” means a religious service. Did not know that, it seems strange then that Hartman would scream at Joker for not believing in the Virgin Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/89 "2012-02-05T17:57:56Z")
He was testing Joker, no more and no less. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/90 "2012-02-05T18:02:54Z")
And don’t forget, while their hearts may belong to Jesus, their asses belong to the Corps. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/91 "2012-02-06T14:46:31Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The most memorable Hartman line, for me: > > “Today is Christmas. There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty!” > > For years, I wondered why the fuck they would have a _magic show_ for Christmas. It wasn’t until a few months ago, when I was reading a web page about Marine Corps slang, that I learned that “magic show” means a religious service. Oh man, you’ve now ruined that line for me. It makes more sense of course, since the next line is about Chaplain Charlie. But I always imagined that the only break the recruits ever got during basic training was some crappy ass magic show by a guy who usually works birthday parties for eight year olds. A thousand Marines surrounding him while he pours milk into his sleeve and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/92 "2012-02-06T18:42:13Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > “Private Pyle! Whatever you do, don’t fall down! that would break my fucking heart!” I love that line because it is sooooo sarcastic. I use it quite a bit - suitably cleaned up and inserting the other person’s current action for “fall down” I always thought Hartman getting pissed at Joker for not believing in the Virgin Mary was more about Joker’s individualism rather than Hartman’s religious convictions. Does anyone else only watch the first half of the movie anymore? ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/93 "2012-02-06T18:52:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Another supposed former DI(although I’m not sure from wnich service): Bob “happy little trees” Ross. > > And to the guy who called me “Sir”. Cram It!!! I WORK for a living, Goddammnit!!! Sgt. Hulka! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/94 "2012-02-06T19:17:47Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I always thought Hartman getting pissed at Joker for not believing in the Virgin Mary was more about Joker’s individualism rather than Hartman’s religious convictions. I figured the test was to see if Joker would give an honest reply and face the consequences or lie and tell Hartmann what Hartmann apparantly weanted to hear. The honesty (or at least Joker admitting that he was in conflict) rather than just a robotic response is more valuable. I’d have to see it again, I guess, to be sure. > [@](#): > > Does anyone else only watch the first half of the movie anymore? Truth be told… I find the second half kind of boring, especially since the Vietnamese whore saying `Me so horny, love you long time`has become such a cliché. As an incidental note, I was in some colllege humanities course (I can’t recall what the course was about) a while back and the professor showed a documentary about Mohawks from the Montreal region that routinely send their young adults through Marine training as a rite of passage, the way they used to go into dangerous contruction trades before the jobs dried up. The other students were, I guess, all impressed by how harsh the basic training was at breaking individuals down and building them up again, etc., but I’ve been through stuff like that, so that part didn’t hold my interest - I was more curious about the Mohawk culture that demands this passage rather than the Marine culture that inflicts it. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/95 "2012-02-06T20:41:43Z")
I watched an inteview with Ermey about the portrayal of DIs in FMJ. BTW: very accurate. He was very heartfelt that with the lists of “their boys” dying in Vietnam, the DIs honestly felt they were doing what it took to keep the Marines alive. The scene he alluded to as an example was the left-side/right-side scene with Pvt. Pyle. It really gives a different context to the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/96 "2012-02-06T22:26:56Z")
It makes sense to strip the humanity off of someone you want to turn into a weapon, other than some rope climbs and push ups that’s what Basic is all about. Odd then that Hartman would assign nicknames day one. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/97 "2012-02-06T22:33:19Z")
If God had wanted your ass up here, He would have miracled it up here! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/98 "2012-02-07T01:30:04Z")
[Quote=Bryan Eckers] Truth be told… I find the second half kind of boring, especially since the Vietnamese whore saying `Me so horny, love you long time`has become such a cliché. [/quote] Making Kubrick partly responsible for the career success of Luther Campbell and 2 Live Crew!😃 > [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve seen modern day boot camps on Discovery and Military channel. The DI’s are still very tough and the physical training brutal. They just don’t have Hartman’s gift of colorful language. 😉 And old soldiers and Marines will of course say kids these days have it easy… But for a very long time the DIs/Drill Sergeants/MTIs/etc. have not been allowed to personally assault the trainees and that got extended, decades ago now, to not aiming obscene or racial hate speech at the recruits. And of course it’s also a matter of 40 more years of continuous honing of the art and science of “motivating” - Basic in all branches has made up for the loss of some of the crude-rude aspects with more cleverly (fiendishly? 😉 ) designed “stressing”. Though all the branches’ Basic were perceived to have “softened” during the first decade of the volunteer force, by the 90s there was a policy of re-toughening the process (for instance, the Marine “Crucible” capstone experience started in its current form in the 90s) that got further revised after the start of the Afghan/Iraq-2 wars with the feedback from the field. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/99 "2012-02-07T01:40:25Z")
There’s a series on the Dicsovery channel now called _[Surviving the Cut](http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/surviving-the-cut/)_ about the training to get into various elite units. There’s a lot of yelling and such, but not a lot of profanity (even the bleeped variety) and nothing I’d consider overtly sexist, racist or homophobic. As for “assaulting the recruits” - it’s never malicious or pointless or in anger, but technically if you’re at the bottom of a pool and somebody yanks the mouthpiece away from you and grabs your air tanks and gives you a hard all-around shaking… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/100 "2012-02-07T02:18:32Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > (for instance, the Marine “Crucible” capstone experience started in its current form in the 90s) Ah. Er, what is that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648.md?page=6)