The final nine months of America’s 20-year involvement in the long-running Afghanistan conflict is documented by a film crew from National Geographic. Retrograde captures multiple perspectives of the departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The film crew, embedded with U.S. Special Forces, observes the parting of the Green Berets from their Afghan special operations counterparts. After their departure, the film crew remains behind to witness a young Afghan general and his corps fighting off the Taliban even as the country collapses. Falling back to the Kabul airport in August 2021, the film crew is present for the chaotic evacuation of U.S. embassy staff, America citizens, lawful permanent residents of the U.S., and desperate Afghans who want to leave the country. The movie will begin to be shown in theaters across the country beginning November 11, 2022.

Retrograde, Official Trailer, National Geographic Documentary Films, November 7, 2022, 2 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaabPkONJ4Q

Upcoming Movie – 12 Strong – Chris Hemsworth, if ever there was a guy that looked like a hero, will play a Captain on a Special Forces SFODA whose SF team links up with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in the late part of 2001. The movie, 12 Strong, depicts the actions of the ODA as it liberates the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif from the Taliban.

Hemsworth was quite impressed with the real life story of this Special Forces A-team that infiltrated by helicopter in the dark of the night, met with members of the Northern Resistance, and promptly mounted horses to ride into combat.

The horse soldiers – from ODA 595 of the 5th Special Forces Group – infiltrated northern Afghanistan shortly after the terrorist attack on the United States in September 2001. The infiltration was done by chopper but much of the initial ground movement was by horse over mountainous terrain. The team linked up with the forces of General Abdul Rashid Dostum who, at the time, was aligned (or part of) the Northern Alliance.

It will be interesting to see just how accurate the movie is to the book and to the real life events. Hopefully the military technical advisors got it right.

The movie is a take on the non-fiction book by Doug Stanton entitled Horse Soldiers. The long title of the  movie is Horse Soldiers: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers. It is scheduled to be released on January 19, 2018.

Read more about the upcoming movie to be released in January 2018. (USA Today, Oct 17, 2017).

Watch the movie trailer.

SEAL Team Review. Three of the television networks are presenting TV dramas about special operations this fall. CBS aired the premiere of SEAL Team on Wednesday 9/8c, September 27th. The lead character is David Boreanaz who starred in the TV drama Bones. His gruff persona will work well in this role. He is supported by a cast that is fairly representative of American society (if not the SEAL community). We have an ethnic and gender diverse SEAL team (along with its support elements) at work here! Overall it was pretty good entertainment for one hour. Certainly there were a few inaccuracies and occasionally you had to press the “I Believe Button” to carry on but the show keeps you engaged. So here is my take on the show.

The series will attempt to blend in the professional, work related side of being a Navy SEAL deployed on missions with the everyday stuff of working on a Navy base and life on the family front. So, for the purposes of being able to program the series successfully I envision our heroes deploying out on short-duration missions during each episode so we can see the SEALs in action and in the same hour see the interactions with the family at home. (I guess the producers figured out you can’t get all the family stuff in by depicting Skype sessions on the tube).

It is nice to see that the show addresses the stress that a SOF family (or any military family for that matter) goes through and this show hits many of the hot buttons (and cliches). The cell phones all go off at the same time at a social gathering (used to be beepers) and our hero SEALs make a hurried departure with quick “I’ll be back” and “Be careful” lines spoken. The show has the pregnant wife at home, the estranged couple who are working through issues, the rebellious teenager, and the family who lost their SEAL now on the outside of the special operations community. I am sure that in future episodes more drama will be presented on additional issues that the military family faces.

The show includes the many aspects of military life that the special operations vet will recognize to include the oversight provided by the chain of command, the reality of combat stress (a scene with a psychotherapist reminded me of the Sopranos), missions that tend to go off track because the enemy gets a vote, aircraft with maintenance problems, guilt stemming from loss of a comrade on a mission gone south, necessity of having ‘bump’ and ‘contingency planning’, and the value of intelligence. The CIA gets to play a role in this TV show; probably a little bit more than actually happens I think. The agency girls are attractive (opportunities for romance) and but the agency guys seem a little nerdy. Hmmmm.

It was good to see the incorporation of a military working dog (MWD). It appears that the show will further develop the team members as we view each episode – how well it will reflect life on a SEAL team remains to be seen. We do have a character who has just arrived on the scene (the new guy) and sets out to prove himself. He gets an uneven start in the first episode. Of interest, is that there is a a sub-plot about a veteran SEAL who writes a ‘tell all’ book about SEAL operations. Who knew SEALs wrote books?

I won’t provide an evaluation of the specialized equipment, weapons, and tactics used by the SEALs – others can do a better SEAL Team review on those aspects. I will say the recon site set up on the balcony of a busy city street seemed just a little bit hard to swallow. Oh, and David Boreanaz probably needs to upgrade to an adult-sized plate carrier. I’ll stop there.

The show was action-packed with fast roping, helicopters, comms-chatter, folks in the rear with headsets watching live video feeds (kill TV), inflatable boats, CQB, urban environments, and technology. SEAL Team could be just the thing to get you through NFL season withdrawal symptoms until the football players stop taking a knee.

If you missed the premiere you can catch up by viewing the episode online and do your own internal SEAL Team review at:
www.cbs.com/shows/seal-team/

My overall SEAL Team review and assessment? “It is Hollywood but good enough to watch again.”

There are a number of SOF TV shows airing during the Fall 2017 television season. There are three networks offering a television drama that depicts special operations forces (SOF) at work protecting our nation’s interests. Naturally, of the three SOF TV shows, one will likely emerge as a favorite and one or two probably get discontinued. But . . . it is too early to tell. So here is a quick guide on what (and how) to watch these (hopefully) exciting SOF TV shows. It would appear that only four of the military components having SOF units is depicted. Naturally, there is a show centered on Navy SEALs and an Army SOF aviation unit is the focus of a second show. MARSOC and AFSOC are no where to be seen so it seems the Marines and Air Force are getting left out.  [1]

Skipping the NFL This Season? If you are like me, you enjoy watching football. However, this season has proven to be a bit of a turnoff. My football viewing time will be sharply diminished – probably just one game a week. In addition, I am skipping the usual pre- and post-football game shows. While I will probably be watching TB12 perform his usual magic it will be only for the last three quarters of the game. The NFL players can play out their little drama during the pre-game activities but I will not watch the ugly performance. They have the right to their protest and I have the right to ignore it. To compensate for only watching 3 periods of football each week I will probably seek other forms of entertainment – hopefully one or more of these SOF TV shows will provide some viewing pleasure. So here is the new SOF TV shows lineup for the Fall 2017 season. [2]

The Brave (NBC) – Monday Nights, 10/9c
Valor (CWTV) – Monday Nights, 9/8c
SEAL Team (CBS) – Wednesday Nights, 9/8c

Guide to Demonstrating Your SOF Knowledge. Here is the opportunity for you – a special operations veteran – to impress your spouse with ‘as they happen’ critiques of the characters, actions, and plots while you view these SOF TV shows. Imagine the delight of your wife (or husband, or . . . whatever) as you yell at the television phrases like “That would never happen”, or “He didn’t change magazines”, or “His transition from rifle to pistol was very slow”. Or perhaps a measured, cool statement like “Ah, it brings back memories”, or “I have been there”, or “I miss those days”, or mention something about a t-shirt. Of course, as these SOF TV shows develop the characters in the respective series the inevitable ‘love dramas’ will emerge. Issues like infidelity and sexual temptations may present themselves. Be ready with defensive statements like “I never saw that happen”, or “It is way overblown”, or “There were (are) no women in my outfit”. [3]

The Brave – NBC. A team of elite undercover military special operators carry out missions on the ground while supported by a team of intelligence specialists and cultural advisors in D.C. from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The SOF team is presented as a ‘cross-matrixed’ element comprised of the ‘greatest of the greatest’ from Delta Force, Navy SEALs, and the CIA. The first episode aired on Monday, September 25th – the plot centered on the rescue of an American female doctor held hostage in the Middle East. You can meet the cast (multicultural and gender diverse . . . of course), learn about the filming, and watch the first show plus three trailers of The Brave at the link below online.
www.nbc.com/the-brave

The Valor – CWTV. This show features an Army aviation special operations unit with a female in the lead. Yes, she is easy on the eyes . . . but seems a little young for the part. I have met my fair share of Chief Warrant Officers and this young lady does not come close to looking like any of the old and crusty CW4 aviators that I have known. So right off the bat  . . . well, never mind. I am sure the romantic nature of this “SOF” show will generate an audience that will watch it and the gender advancement crowd will surely applaud. The jury is out on this one.
www.cwtv.com/shows/valor/

SEAL Team – CBS. David Boreanaz of Bones fame is the star with several other cast members that I don’t recognize. Once again we have a diverse group of SOF team members to entertain us. This military drama presents the whole picture of life as a SEAL – what happens while deployed on missions and the stuff that takes place in garrison (and in the home). The show will attempt to depict how Navy SEALs juggle their professional and personal lives (something current and former SOF professionals will likely be familiar with). First show is on Wednesday, September 27th (9/8c).
www.cbs.com/shows/seal-team/

Footnotes:

[1] Full disclosure: An online review by Molly Gobeski entitled “A Special Operation’s Guide to This Fall’s TV Military Dramas”, The Tracking Board, September 25, 2017 provided inspiration for the writing of this article.

[2] It is unfortunate that the three SOF TV shows are not scheduled for Sunday afternoon, Monday night, and Thursday night. That would go a long way to fighting NFL withdrawal symptoms.

[3] If you are a SOF ‘wanna be’ then simply precede any of these statements with “If I were SOF I . . . .”, or “A friend of mine is SOF and he . . .”, or “I was talking to a SOF guy once and he said . . .”

Spectral is a science fiction movie about U.S. special operations forces set in today’s world and timeline but with some SciFi mixed in. Some type of otherworldly force is wreaking havoc on a war-torn East European city (located in the small country of Moldova) and a special ops unit requests the assistance of an engineer from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to help explain the strange happenings.

Spectral is available on Netflix and I took the opportunity to watch it over the holidays. It is good entertainment but it is science fiction to an extent so you have to swallow that “I believe” pill. I wouldn’t watch it again but don’t regret being entertained for a few hours.

Watch the official Netflix movie trailer for Spectral –

The Take is a newly released action movie about a Central Intelligence Agency operator who teams up with (an unwilling) pickpocket to take on the bad guys. Watch the movie trailer below.

www.thetakemovie.com

Looks like we get to watch another SEAL movie – Renegades – that will soon be released. If the trailer is any indication it should be full of action and entertainment.

“Renegades is about a team of Navy SEALs on assignment in war-torn Europe (1995) who discover a treasure of gold at the bottom of a lake — rumored to be worth hundreds of dollars. In an effort to help the locals, they go rogue and engineer a heist to retrieve the gold and return it to its rightful owners. But in a deadly turn of events, they are detected and left with only 10 hours to carry out their mission.”

Watch the trailer at the link below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl8INGEnrbQ