Sometimes called “The Marching Twenty Four”, the US Marine Corps (USMC) are a rifle platoon known for performing their silent drills. The point of the drills is to offer a display of the precision and discipline for which they pride themselves. Originally meant to be a one-off, the platoon first performed their silent drill in 1948.
And to such an explosively positive response that it has now become…if you’ll pardon the pun…canon.
The drills require complete composure and concentration, with no margin for error.
And not only is it marching, but far more technical than that. The drills involve incredible tricks with their rifles, spinning, flipping and throwing that would make a professional juggler blush. Everything is done with mechanical movements. What’s more, because the focus of these presentations is on discipline, if something goes wrong, it comes with repercussions.
It’s not often you see something go wrong, but when you do…it’ll stop your heart.
The Fort Henry Guard of the USMC gathered one day to present, and one of these rare mishaps was in the cards for one or more unfortunate riflemen. It began as seamlessly as normal. All Marines are immaculately lined up and in position. To begin with, our Marine does perfectly, flipping his gun through the air expertly.
Some of the movements can seem a little…strange.
At times it almost seems like a romantic dance between a man and his gun. The Marines will alternate between swift, precise moment and slower, more expressive moves. You can practically hear tango music in the background.
But then, the Marine throws his gun…
And the other Marine catches it perfectly.
Following this, the second Marine does a few of his own tricks. It’s clear that both of these Marines has a tremendous amount of skill. I shudder to think how many hours of practice it takes to be able to do such incredible tricks without so much as a flinch. He also looks straight down the barrel of the gun, which I don’t know about you, but that makes me pretty nervous!
Then, it’s time to flip the rifle back over to the first Marine…
But this time… it doesn’t go so well…
Instead of catching the rifle, it bounces out of the Marines hand and goes flying behind him. As the gun goes flying off behind him the crowd let out a loud unanimous gasp. One member of the audience whispers “He’s going to get fired” as both Marines freeze in place.
The second Marine robotically steps over to pick up the rifle.
You can cut the tension with a bayonet, as the audience watch on. According to the Marines present, the fault lies with the Marine who threw the rifle, for throwing it too high to catch.
Once the second Marine has returned to his position he attempts the trick again… but his problems are not over yet.
As he begins to spin the rifle again, it snaps in half, each section flailing about as he scrambles to grab it. Realizing that the routine cannot continue, he simply hands the smashed rifle back to its owner. As punishment for this error, both Marines were forced to stay in the hotel rather than join their colleagues in going to town that night. They both got to keep their jobs, but lost a bit of dignity.
Well, I guess they are only human after all…everyone makes mistakes.
Watch the full video below to enjoy these skilled Marines, and their unfortunate mishap.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
