What's the military purpose of the "my rifle, my gun" drill in Full Metal Jacket?
One of the scenes in the Boot Camp section of Full Metal Jacket has the recruits marching their barracks holding their rifle in one hand and their crotch in the other, chanting "This is my rifle, this is my gun; this is for fighting this is for fun".
I think I understand the purpose of this drill in the narrative of the movie, but what on earth could be its military use?
Best Answer
In USMC culture, a "gun" is a large artillery piece, and this chant (which is apparently genuinely used by Marines) is to train the new recruits not to make the civilian mistake of referring to a rifle as a gun.
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What is the rifle in Full Metal Jacket?
USAF M16 (Colt Model 604) The M16 Rifle appears in the film as the standard-issue weapon of most of the US Marines in Vietnam. Since the film takes place during the Tet offensive in 1968, the use of M16s is correct since it was adopted by the USMC in 1967.Why do soldiers hold their rifles sideways?
Soldiers began tilting the weapons, so that the recoil sent the gun reeling in a horizontal rather than vertical arc, enabling them to spray bullets into an onrushing enemy battalion instead of over their heads.How accurate is full metal jacket?
'Full Metal Jacket' The entire film is great, but the representation of Marines in the first act of the film is (mostly) accurate. This can be attributed to the legendary R. Lee Ermey. He was actually a drill instructor and Stanley Kubrick was dedicated to making everything as authentic as possible.How does a soldier hold a rifle?
When soldiers are ready to fire, they get into the high ready position. In this position, the soldier will hold the rifle to their shoulder, while aiming the rifle barrel upwards.what. (Bo Burnham FULL SHOW HD)
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Answer 2
A gun is the weapon of the street. Street thugs don't care for their guns, they don't clean them, and they throw them away after using them to kill. A gun is the thing a child used to shoot cans, squirrels, or other game, game that can not harm you back.
A professional, a Marine or a Soldier, is trained that while they may have used 'guns' back at home to shoot squirrels or cans, a rifle is assigned to them, cared for by them, kept close by at all times, used to kill an enemy combatant, someone who can kill you, and is not to be carelessly handled, dropped, etc. A rifle becomes part of them. The rifle will save their lives and the lives of their platoon mates. The rifle is cleaned first, before the marine, even before eating or sleeping. A dirty rifle may misfire and a misfire can kill you, or worse, your fellow troops.
At this point, the only 'gun' left to the marine, is the one in their pants, to be used for pleasure only.
I, too, performed a drill much like the one shown, when in Army boot camp, in 1985.
Answer 3
This is not merely Marines but a universal correction administered in military training. We could refer to the rifle as a rifle, or a weapon, but NEVER a gun.
So this chant, along with the "dying cockroach position" or the "front-leaning rest position" were part of the atmosphere of any training unit in the 1960's and 1970's at least in the Vietnam Era.
Answer 4
The riflemens creed. Stanley Kubrick while doing many dramatic pieces was a known satirist. He poked fun at the unconscious minds psychosexual fetish behind wielding a gun in Full Metal Jacket. When Marine recruits parade with their weapons doing this chant of “This is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for fighting, this is for fun.” They seize their crotches at “gun” and “fun. Soldiers are taught painstakingly about gun care of the weapon they're assigned.
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