Who wrote the novel The Short-Timers, adapted into Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket?

Gustav Hasford wrote The Short-Timers, the novel adapted into Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film Full Metal Jacket.

Hasford’s 1979 novel draws on his experiences as a United States Marine Corps combat correspondent during the Vietnam War. Its structure follows Marines through brutal training and then into the Vietnam conflict, a structure Kubrick retained in the film.

Kubrick, Hasford, and Michael Herr received screenplay credit. Herr, author of Dispatches, contributed to the screenplay, while Hasford’s novel supplied the source material and much of the film’s underlying perspective.

The film is commonly remembered for its two-part design: Marine recruit training at Parris Island followed by combat in Huế during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Matthew Modine played Joker, while Vincent D’Onofrio played Leonard, known as Private Pyle.