Trivia: Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has a cameo as a lawyer in a bar talking to a woman about one of his cases.
Trivia: Maud Winchester, who plays Aunt Jenny, is the sister-in-law of Rob Reiner, the film's director.
Trivia: All of Jack Nicholson's scenes were filmed in only 10 days.
Trivia: A Few Good Men was based loosely on an incident which involved a group of soldiers performing a hazing act on a recruit by the order of their platoon commander. The recruit nearly died, and it wasn't until the commander finally confessed in court that the soldiers were let off. This is confirmed by the director commentary.
Trivia: Cruise calls Kevin Bacon Smiling Jack Ross. Bacon was also called Smiling Jack in 1986's QuickSilver.
Trivia: The marching band in the beginning is The Capital Band and has a brief mention in the closing credits. The director in black is Col Charles Erwin, USMC Ret, former Assistant Conductor and solo cornet for the President's Marine band. The Marine Corps would not allow the real band to be shown in the film. Col Erwin used his Capital Band for the scene.
Trivia: Aaron Sorkin wrote dialogue and ideas for the original stage version of "A Few Good Men" on cocktail napkins while he was a waiter at the Palace Theater. He would scribble notes on the napkins whenever he had a chance, and get home with his pockets stuffed with them.
Trivia: This movie, which was adapted from the play, was actually based on a real-life Code Red event. In Guantanamo Bay, Lance Corporal David Cox and nine other men tied up and severely beat a Marine for snitching to the NCIS. Cox was found not guilty, although he was sentenced to thirty days for simple assault and honorably discharged. In 1994, Cox disappeared but was found three months later murdered, execution style.
Answer: It's something done to one trooper in a unit who is not pulling his load, to let him know his teammates are tired of him making them look bad. It can range from a beating after lights out to scrubbing a soldier who won't shower with toilet brushes and Comet. (And yes, both of those are from my own military experience, though I wasn't the victim!) It's meant to give a warning and doesn't normally harm anything but the victim's pride. They are strongly against regulations in the past year or two as several soldiers were injured by their unit getting overzealous, just like in the movie.
Grumpy Scot