FAQ

As the first 'test case' of a woman to undergo SEAL training in the US Navy's elite Combined Reconnaissance Team (CRT), Lt Jordan O'Neill (Demi Moore) demands to be treated like all the other guys and attempts to prove her ability ...although everyone else expects her to fail.

G.I. Jane is based on a screenplay by American screenwriters David Twohy and Danielle Alexandra.

They're ship fenders: they're hung between Naval vessels as bumpers to prevent damage from ships docked next to each other that would collide if the fender weren't there. The fenders are large, bulky, heavy, and are used as a test of both strength and teamwork for the trainees.

It's the Navy equivalent of a dunce cap to show that Cortez (David Vadim) had shamed the rest of the company by not helping O'Neill over the wall at the end of the obstacle course. Master Chief Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen) explains that SEALs don't leave their crew members behind. Urgayle wanted to show the entire trainee company that Cortez acted inappropriately. Later, as O'Neill is walking away from the Master Chief's quarters, Cortez is shown digging a hole with the oar as punishment.

"Head" is a Navy term for toilet.

"Dropped On Request". Urgayle and his command staff use it on their roster board to refer to anyone who leaves the training program before completing it—hence the few trainees we see ringing the bell. The US Navy SEAL program has a very high dropout rate, as we hear explained at the beginning of O'Neill's training. The program is deliberately tough because the Navy wants recruits that can handle the hard demands of the work they do.

Using her experience as a topographical analyst, O'Neill surmises that the Master Chief is not about to lead the Libyans to the spot where the team is waiting to rally with the Las Vegas and would, most likely, follow a southwest wash instead. They make their way near to the mouth of the wash and set up an ambush, planting mines in a "kill zone" and hiding in wait behind the rocks. As O'Neill predicted, the Chief comes barrelling down the wash with the Libyans directly behind him. The team attempts to cover him, but Urgayle is hit by two Libyan bullets and falls in the "kill zone." O'Neill rushes into the minefield and, with McCool's (Morris Chestnut) help, drags Urgayle out. The mines are then detonated, and the team extracted by helicopter. Some time later, back at the SEAL training facility, the successful graduates are accepted to the CRT and given their pins from Urgayle. In the final scene, O'Neill opens her locker and finds a copy of D.H. Lawrence's Selected Poems with a Navy Cross marking the page containing the poem "Self Pity". She turns to see Urgayle, his leg in a brace, walking out of the locker room but not before flashing her a short, congratulatory smile.

It would seem strange that Urgayle would give his decoration to someone but he likely did it because O'Neill dragged him out of a very dangerous situation in much the same manner that Urgayle dragged a comrade to safety, the action that got him the decoration in the first place. It's also done to show the high respect that Urgayle now has for Jordan for completing such a difficult training course and to thank her for rescuing him.