R. Lee Ermey is no stranger to barking orders. After a stint as a real gunnery sergeant in the Marines, he played the memorable Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in the 1987 Stanley Kubrick film "Full Metal Jacket," a gig that got him television and film roles for decades.

These days, Ermey is using those talents to tell military folks that they need to vote, starring in a PSA for the Heroes Vote Initiative. "Have you taken the few seconds necessary to register and request an absentee ballot?" he asks. "What? What's that? Oh, private numb-nuts, you don't think your vote matters? Wrong answer," he yells.

The Military Voter Protection Project launched the Heroes Vote Initiative in June and announced last week that Sept. 15 would be National Military Voter Readiness Day as state deadlines for registering and requesting an absentee ballot are quickly approaching.