10 Best Military Sketches on 'Saturday Night Live'

Topical humor has always been a big part of Saturday Night Live history and there have been plenty of military stories in the news to inspire its writers over the last four decades. As the show celebrates is 40th anniversary with a three-hour special set to air on Sunday, February 15th, we've combed through the SNL archives and selected the 10 best military-themed sketches.

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1. Bruce Willis wants to bring some John McClane-style Die Hard heroics to a Black Ops mission in Afghanistan.

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2. General David Petraeus (Will Forte) testifies to Congress about the progress of the surge in Iraq.

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3. It's time to build a coalition to fight Iraq's nuclear capabilities, but General Colin Powell (Kenan Thompson) seems to have turned into Fred Sanford since his retirement.

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4. A TV pitchman (Harry Shearer) explains why you need to spend $50,000 on a Pentagon-approved MacDouglass Drummond wrench.

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5. An Air Force fighter pilot (NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon) wins elementary school Career Day over carpet salesman Seth Meyers.

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6. Weekend Update's Seth Meyers examines the Winners & Losers in the General David Petraeus/Paula Broadwell/Jill Kelley/General John Allen scandal.

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7. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (Darrell Hammond) updates the media on progress after the United States invades Afghanistan.

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8. Tired of the Congressional debate about whether to invade Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney (Darrell Hammond) goes all Doctor Strangelove and rides a missile to Baghdad.

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9. Test Pilot Mustang Calhoun (Dennis Quaid) is just plain crazy.

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10. Two dumb Marines (Kevin Nealon and Dana Carvey) bring spies to the US Embassy in Moscow.

These just skim the surface. There are dozens of military-themed sketches from SNL. Tell us your favorites in the comments below.