Stripes

Question: Why are Czechoslovak border guards speaking Russian? The Soviet Red Army would not be guarding the border with West Germany.

Answer: In 1981 Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact and thus under the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union would not fully allow the satellite states to do their own border security, so Soviet guards were placed.

lionhead

Question: Given that Sergeant Hulka was only the platoon's drill sergeant, that means his authority should have been done once they graduated from basic training. So why did he turn up in Germany and continue to give them orders?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: According to the movie's premise and plot, once they (the platoon) impressed the brass at graduation and was assigned to the Germany gig with the "EM-50", Sgt. Hulka would naturally be with them as he was their original commanding officer. Plus, it would be logical to suggest that he would personally assign himself the detail of overseeing his platoon as they were his to begin with.

CCARNI ★

He's assigned as a Drill Sergeant, that is his job. Once he was fully healed he would have been assigned another group of recruits.

Answer: He wanted to make sure that they don't screw up this very important assignment, which they did.

Question: When the guys are in that bar, the police raid it. Why do they do this? The place not have a license to operate or something?

Rob245

Answer: The mud wrestling is a form of gambling, betting money on winning. The bar probably didn't have a gambling permit.

lionhead

More for Stripes

Mistakes

Factual error: Then, as now, every recruit reporting to boot camp would be tested for illegal drugs, first by a urine test and then by a broad spectrum blood test in the case of a positive result. There is no reason for Elmo to try to hide his stash when the recruits are told they are to be tested - he is going to come up positive anyway. He may as well just say he has changed his mind and walk away. He is entitled to do that any time up to ten days after he signed on, and it happened a lot in real life!

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Those drug tests didn't exist in 81.

Did you watch the film? The recruits are told they are about to take a broad spectrum drug test - not they are going to be searched for drugs, they are going to tested for the presence of illegal drugs in their systems. As has been pointed out such drug tests were mandatory at the time the film is set but that is not important - in the context of the film Elmo's action make no sense as he is going to be tested for drugs. Hiding his stash makes no sense at all as it will not solve his immediate problem. The posting is correct and the correction is nonsensical.

What specific drug tests didn't exist? Nixon directed a military drug urinalysis program in 1971 and the DoD started random drug testing in 1974 (not that testing deterred drug use).

Bishop73

I enlisted in 1982. I got a single drug test at the meps and didn't get tested again during an entire 3 year enlistment. In fact, I didn't receive a drug test until 2 years into my second enlistment. The military just wasn't as strict on drug testing.

ssgemt

Drug testing of recruits commenced in the United States on a trial basis in 1975 and became compulsory in 1977. In 1981 every single volunteer would have to take a broad spectrum drug test before being allowed to start boot camp.

More mistakes in Stripes

Quotes

John Winger: C'mon, it's Czechoslovakia. We zip in, we pick 'em up, we zip right out again. We're not going to Moscow. It's Czechoslovakia. It's like going into Wisconsin.
Russell Ziskey: Well I got the shit kicked out of me in Wisconsin once. Forget it!

More quotes from Stripes

Trivia

Trivia: The "kitchen utensil" scene between Bill Murray and PJ Soles was completely improvised.

More trivia for Stripes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.