A selection of snapshots from the most viewed military videos in 2012. (Stars and Stripes/YouTube)
There’s live video of a Coast Guard rescue at sea during Hurricane Sandy, a public service announcement on homeless veterans, and of course, a ‘Gangnam Style’ spoof music video in contention, but what were the top 10 most watched U.S. military videos of 2012?
This year’s winner, published in February, garnered almost 2.4 million views. In comparison, the most watched video from Stars and Stripes in 2012—‘Heat ray demonstration’—received about 57,500 views, good enough for 11th place if in the competition.
Videos were selected from dozens of YouTube pages affiliated with the military branches, their educational systems and government institutions focusing on veterans.
All the qualifying videos were published in 2012, including the honorable mention list, which featured a ‘Step Aerobics’ video from the Pentagon Channel, a hard rock music video montage from the Air Force, and an informational video on how to apply for healthcare from the Veterans Health Administration.
Enjoy the full list and share in the comments section any other great videos from 2012:
No. 10: ‘SWCC – Navy’s Best Kept Secret’ from the U.S. Navy with 115,812 views. This high-production-value promo for SWCC, or Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewman, has it all: an electric guitar intro; streaking overhead cameras and racing river shots; action sequences with lots of gunfire and night vision; and a testimonial Hollywood ending:
No. 9: ‘Soldier trash talks Marine, gets whooped’ from the Marines TV channel with 184,947 views. According to this video from the Armed Forces Boxing Championships, talking trash against the Marine Corps is frowned upon, says the victor from this montage video, who added his own verbal late punch: “He’s an army of one, and that’s why he got demolished.”:
No. 8: ‘USS Kidd (DDG 100) board the Iranian-flagged fishing dhow Al Molai’ from the U.S. Navy channel with 199,347 views. The video is only 17 seconds long but U.S. forces rescuing the crew of an Iranian ship held by pirates was international news in the beginning of the year:
No. 7: ‘Toward the Sounds of Chaos’ from the U.S. Marine Corps with 316,593 views. With sprinting troops, rolling tanks, and hybrid Osprey aircraft providing back-up, this is either a trailer for the new Michael Bay film or yet another advertisement for the U.S. Marine Corps:
No. 6: ‘Damage Control for the 21st Century: Shoulder-to-shoulder firefighting operations’ from the U.S. Naval Research Lab with 347,506. If the eyes of the robot don’t scare, the actor in a mock-turtleneck or the monotone voiceover will:
No. 5: ‘VA Homeless Veterans ‘Success Stories’ Public Service Announcement’ from the Department of Veterans Affairs with 647,644 views. For many reasons, there are homeless veterans out there. The more who know about resources available to them, the better:
No. 4: ‘Rescue of HMS Bounty during Hurricane Sandy’ from the U.S. Coast Guard with 1,259,817 views. Another day, another dramatic rescue video from the U.S. Coast Guard, this time from the sinking of tall ship HMS Bounty off the North Carolina Coast:
No. 3: ‘Aerial View of New Jersey Coast Line After Hurricane Sandy from the National Guard’ with 1,306,971 views. Yet another Hurricane Sandy related video, this time just 30 seconds of destruction above the New Jersey coast line but a significant amount of perspective:
No. 2: ‘Gangnam Style-West Point’ from the U.S. Military Academy West Point with 1,407,552 views. The ‘Gangnam Style’ spoof videos came from all over the Internet, including all branches of the military, but the horse stable, operating tank and choreographed moves from the West Point cadets was too much to beat:
 
No. 1: ‘BAE Electromagnetic Railgun’ from the Office of Naval Research with 2,385,285 views. When it comes to military videos, in 2012 nothing could beat a big gun, loud explosions and slow-motion replays:
