Anyone seen "Off to War"?

[malmapus]

Watching it now on Discovery Times, basically about this Arkansas National Guard unit that gets sent to Iraq.

For one thing this is something the idiots running policy should be watching.

When they arrive in Iraq, of course their using way out-dated equipment and their HUMVEES aren't armored....so they start going through scrap piles pulling plates out, even throwing old flak jackets over their doors.

Then when they run out they use sandbags in trucks.

Right now their tearing down a Iraqi fellows fence that runs along the side of a road because it apparently has been used by people to hide behind while ambushing convoys, then they accidentially broke his water main....oiy

But the CO walks off after apologizing profously to the Iraqi, then walks off saying "My biggest fear was getting shot at, that didn't happen yet. My second biggest fear was cutting a water main, we sure as hell did that, my third biggest fear was pissing off the Iraqis, we did that five minutes after getting off the plane."


God this whole mess sucks

[AValdoux]

1. Must See TV - for real

I've been wathcing that from the beginning. Did you catch the part about the unguarded ammo dump they had to clean up in the last episode? It had been unprotected until the Arkansas group were assigned to clean it up a year after the invasion. The CO describes it as the largest ammo dump he had ever seen. When I saw the second installment about gearing up in Kuwait that was also before the armor issue made the mainstream press. Everything that is being argued about the war effort is illustrated in this show. I also didn't find it to be political, just a story about how these people deal with the deployment. When the kid called his mom on mothers day standing on a roof in camp, it made me cry.


AValdoux

[malmapus]

2. Didn't even know about it till today heh

Was just flipping around and saw them leaving for Iraq on the plane.

Looks like showing another episode, looks like the begining this time. They just got activated and its showing their families and what not.

But yeah its a tear jerker thats for sure.

[AValdoux]

3. Three episode - so far

I've been watching it from the beginning. Episode I takes place in their hometown. It shows how their deployment effects the families left at home. One samily has to take care of the family turkey farm for the year while the father is gone. If it doesn't work out they will have to sell it. There is another soldier who sells insurance. The deployment will cost him his agency, his customers will go to another agency when he leaves. His wife also had to quit law school because she has to work full time to make up for income they will lose while he is deployed.

The second episode deals with their training and deployment from Kuwait. It shows all the problems with deploying citizens soldiers who aren't all twenty something.

The third epsiode is while they are in Iraq. Its very sad when you've seen who these guys are at home. They haven't posted when epsiode 4 will be broadcast. Discovery.com has an interesting timeline atdiscovery times page for "Off to War".

AValdoux

[malmapus]

4. Those twin brothers story is sad as well

The one who has cattle, his father is so old that he can't take care of em, so he was going to have to sell off his cows before leaving.