
Continuity mistake: Pvt. Pyle is on the rifle range with Gunnery Sergeant Hartman right behind him. When filmed from Pyle's right side, he is wearing a white wrist wrap/brace but the shot moves behind him and it is gone. Back to the right side and it reappears. (00:35:50)
Suggested correction: They sure did punch you. Back in '69, I got punched just like that, and I wasn't the only one to get hit.
That does not address the point - Lee Ermey himself regards Hartman as an inept drill instructor. If he did assault cadets, it was strictly against the rules, and how could he not see that Pyle was having a breakdown?