Knife Hand

My youngest son is in Marine OCS candidate school and I am learning a whole new vocabulary.

I have read hundreds of military books and yet there are basic things I have never heard of which apparently everyone actually in the military knows without even thinking about it.

Today's example - Knife Hand. Knife Hand?

Fortunately, The Angry Staff Officer is there to explain.

There are many iconic images in U.S. military history: Washington crossing the Delaware, the surrender at Appomattox, troops landing on Omaha Beach, to name a few. But few paintings or photographs have managed to capture one of the most significant weapons in the U.S. arsenal: the knife hand.

Able to cleave the air with a thunderous blast of justice while projecting command aura, the knife hand serves as one of the single most effective weapons for modern U.S. military leaders. Indeed, new recruits into the U.S. military are greeted by knife hand-wielding drill sergeants, inspiring fear, respect, and awe. The knife hand can be used to discipline wayward troops, drive a point home during a briefing, or to direct the firepower of America’s finest in combat. It is no stretch of the English language to say that the knife hand has done more for the U.S. military than when they started putting the Skittles packets in MREs.

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The knife hand in action.

A front line explanation.

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