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The first knee-jerk reaction I had to this and, I'm sure, the reaction others had to this was immediate dismissal. This isn't the 1800s anymore. Modern warfare (hehe) is rather long range nowadays, and even in close urban environments, short-barreled rifles and shotguns make quick work of close-quarters encounters. If worse comes to worst, you can just melee them with the end of your rifle/shotgun. (Much more effective than you'd initially think.)
Nevertheless, the US military still practices with them, and they are still getting issued. So what's the deal? Do bayonets still offer something that we're glossing over here? Well, as the video points out, the bayonet serves as much more a training tool to bring out deep feelings of anger and brutality in recruits, and also serves as a way to demoralize the enemy and to discourage close-quarters fighting. And finally, if anything else, the bayonet happily serves a dual purpose as both a bayonet and as a general cutting implement for daily duties. (I think you can even use the attachment point on it as a bottle opener.)
Anyway though. I thought that was pretty interesting. Sometimes, the stuff that we think is just tacticool nonsense actually does make practical sense. Not often, but there you go.
