When the characters use an Army Saber to salute, they all fail to do it correctly except Sean Penn while on horseback. It is a two-step maneuver. On the preparatory command of "PRE_SENT," the saber is brought to a position approximately four inches from the soldier's nose so that the tip of the saber is six inches from the vertical. The soldier is looking at the flat side of blade at the top of the hilt and the blade is either straight up or slightly tilted forward. The actors do this part correctly. What they fail to do is at the command of execution "ARMS," the right hand is lowered with the flat of the blade upward, the thumb extended on the left side of the grip and the tip of the saber about six inches from the marching surface and pointed at the ground. Assuming the actors received the same instructor at Valley Forge Academy, they must have all been taught this way. It is not, however, in accordance with Army Regulation FM 22-5, now called FM 3-21.5.
