"Narrator:" "Thisplatoon of Marines is heading intothemostdangerous place in Afghanistan." "Capt Middendorf:" "We are going in with a thousand" "Marines into this place." "I am going to smoke-check these!" "Narrator:" "Totake the Taliban head on." "Marine:" "Hey get back, get back!" "SSgt Sampson:" "You're not gonna know what's coming." "Narrator:" "Andtry to end this war." "Narrator:" "Once and for all." "1st Lt Jones:" "Probably the scariest moment of my life." "Capt Middendorf:" "Just don't want to lose, the whole war." "Subtitles Captions by National Geographic Sync  Corrected by iscol" "Battleground Afghanistan" "Marine:" "Contact!" "Capt Middendorf:" "My name's Captain Ben Middendorf," "I'm the commander of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines." "We're around 185 marines right now." "We're the ones who do the fightin' up close and personal." "Narrator:" "Thisyear while tens of thousands of" "Americantroopswithdraw from Afghanistan after morethana decade of fighting." "Narrator:" "Captain Ben Middendorf and his menof2ndPlatoon, Golf Company 2/5." "Marine:" "Get down!" "Narrator:" "Arestaying behind to continue the fight." "Narrator:" "They'retakingthe  fight directly to the Taliban." "Narrator:" "Their mission:" "To locate, disruptand destroy the enemy." "Capt Middendorf:" "Again I cannot emphasize enough the importance of doing this mission." "I know it's late in the war, I know the Marines asked the, quot;" "Why?" "quot;" "But it's still war and we got to manipulate this thing so we can execute the retrograde and get out of here in the right way." "Out here you up Marines die and it weighs pretty heavily on me." "Gentleman again, we're going in with a thousand Marines into this place." "They are not going to be able to handle a battalion reinforced of the United States" "Marines going in here, they can't." "I'm looking forward to this fight, 'cause I'm going to smoke-check these!" "Narrator:" "Middendorfbeen in the military for 16 years." "Thisishisthird time in Afghanistan, butintenhours, he heading out on quot;" "OperationBrandingIron,quot;" "hismost dangerous Op yet." "Theymusteliminatea Taliban safe haven in the" "ZamindawarRegion, widely known as one of the mostdangerous places in Afghanistan." "TheAfghanNational Security Forces have nopresencein Zamindawar, leavingit under Taliban control." "It'scrucialin the Taliban's opium operations, whichfundtheirwar  against the Americans." "TheTalibanhave the advantage here." "Theyknowtheterrain, blend in with the general populationand have had years to preparetheirdefenses." "Middendorfhasn't had any fatalities yet." "Capt Middendorf:" "The range of emotions you go through in the hour before getting on a helicopter to go land behind enemy territory and then start an assault, is uh, you cannot convey those thoughts to someone who's life has truly never been in danger." "I mean these are the only guys I can talk to all about and it's the same way for them." "Narrator:" "Likehis 1st Lieutenant Neil Jones, thisishisthirdtour  of duty in three years." "He'sa smartman, studied Criminal Justice andCriminology." "1st Lt Jones:" "Ready to go." "Narrator:" "He'sseen a lot of action." "1st Lt Jones:" "It gets a little easier and easier because, because you get into that rhythm you prep your gear, err you get your ammunition issued out." "You do your rehearsals, you do your mission briefs you do your confirmations." "You feel proud, you feel aggressive, you feel ready to go, right up until that moment that you get on that helicopter and fly off." "Narrator:" "Thenthere's Sergeant Barrow, a24-year-oldsquad leader from Bisbee, Arizona andan unwavering fighter." "Sgt Barrow:" "When I'm on a combat deployment my visions clear." "You actually feel like you doing what you came here to do." "I'm doing what I signed up to do." "Narrator:" "Noone knows that better than" "LanceCorporalWeilbach." "Atjustoverfivefeet , he's the shortest of" "Middendorf'smenbut carries the biggest gun." "LCpl Weilbach:" "I talked to my dad before I left." "quot;" "I'm going to Afghanistan dad,quot;" "and his like quot;" "Oh good, it's about time you become a man.quot;" "And then he tells me, his like quot;" "Just don't be a quot;" "and I'm like quot;" "What?" "quot;" "'Cause like I didn't expect you to say that," "I thought you going to like give me a hug or something like, quot;" "Oh come back safequot;" "and he just tell me like, quot;" "Don't be a ,quot;" "I was like, quot;" "Oh you know," "I'll try my best.quot;" "Narrator:" "SergeantKurek is a true survivor." "Aveteranof the Sangin Campaign, thebloodiestof the Afghan War Campaigns." "Heknowsthestakesof war better than anyone andleadsfromthe front." "Sgt Kurek:" "I think everybody gets a little bit nervous," "I think it's a good thing." "At least for me it keeps me sharp when I'm nervous." "You kind of get that pit in your stomach feeling, but like when you go back home you miss that pit in your stomach feeling." "Narrator:" "Surprise is the key to quot;" "OperationBrandingIronquot;" "whichmeansa night-time airborne assault." "Butit'sa risky maneuver;" "itonlytakesone lucky shot from an enemy RPG tobringthemdown in a ball of fire." "Capt Middendorf:" "There's one last thing I want you to put in your mind before we go in here." "This battalion, this company, was in Belleau Wood." "Went across island half the campaigns in the Pacific, to defeat a divisions of" "Chinese in Korea." "Battled the NVA army in Way city." "Took on the Iraqis in OIF 1, battled a tough insurgency in Romadi and now we're going to the worst place in Afghanistan." "Gentleman I've been your company commander for two years, it's been the proudest two years of my life and there is no place I would rather be right now than with you, leading you into battle." "Yeah we're going to accomplish the mission." "And if that takes casualties, it takes casualties." "That's my job, to determine what that level's going to be at." "We've trained hard." "I've been tough on you , tough as quot;woodpecker lips.quot;" "Don't forget where we came from." "We about to add another battle to the streamer of Golf Company and 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines." "Before we go gents, we'll say a quick prayer." "Dear Lord, protect these Marines and sailors as we go forward into battle against the enemy." "Protect each and every one of us, give us the strength to push through the most challenging mission that we've had yet, to destroy the enemy, as they become the main effort of Golf Company." "And dear God, bring us all home alive, in your name we pray, Amen." "Gentleman, get your sticks quot;retreat hell.quot;" "Hoorah!" "I really want to bring all my guys back home while accomplishing the mission." "Narrator:" "Yearsof  training have brought themtothismoment, butnothing can really prepare themforthereality of going into combat." "Cpl Unis:" "A lot of times we're getting shot at when we come in you know, sometimes its RPGs, sometimes it's just machine gun fire." "When you're on the ground and you're fighting you know, you're relying on your skills and your instincts and everything." "When you're in a helicopter flying in you're not relying on anything, you're just kind of just sitting there and hoping and praying that it's going to work out for the best." "Sgt Barrow:" "If we die it doesn't matter you know." "Put it in your head that you're already dead." "That'll take away the fear of dying it'll make it a lot easier on you." "And that's kind of like the mindset that you have to have." "Narrator:" "They fly fast." "There'snomoon." "Darknessandspeed are their best allies, butthey're no guarantees." "Theylandin  the lion's den, it'sgo-time." "Thefirstwaveofmarines hit the ground and fan out andthesecondwave comes in hot on their heels, that'swhenthe Taliban attacks." "Marine:" "Hey get back, get back!" "Narrator:" "Thefirstwave of marines hit the ground andfanoutand the  second wave comes in hotontheirheels, that'swhenthe Taliban attacks" "Marine:" "Hey get back, get back!" "Narrator:" "They're no match for the marines escort helicopters, whousetheir night vision capability tozeroin  on the Taliban." "TheHueysmachinegun  neutralizes the enemy, thena rocket seals the deal." "Narrator:" "Golfcompany makes it through the first contactoftheir mission unscathed." "Bydawn, the Taliban withdraw." "CaptainMiddendorf can't tell how big their fightingforce was or even how many theymayhavekilled." "Butnow they're exposed, sittingducksin  the growing light." "Theyneedto find some cover fast." "They'rewaitingfor Lieutenant Neal Jones toclearanearbycivilian compound to use as cover." "Capt Middendorf:" "Golf Two this is Six." "Uh, you got room for headquarters to push in now, so we can get out of here and start working?" "You got a spot for headquarters in there yet?" "I need to get tucked in quick man." "Golf Two:" "Good sir, err you guys are good to come in." "Capt Middendorf:" "And that is on the south side in there?" "Golf Two:" "I would go to, the western side, the northwestern side." "Capt Middendorf:" "If you could just make certain somebody's at the door for us." "Narrator:" "Nowtheyjust have to get to the compound 300yardsacrossanopen  field without getting shot." "Capt Middendorf:" "When we're out there gun fighting, my mind is pretty clear." "I'm doing everything I possibly can to kill the enemy and protect my guys." "Sgt Barrow:" "My radio took like a dump earlier, just letting you know." "You definitely become a man really quick in this game." "There's not a whole lot of room for poor decisions." "Definitely, definitely no room for that." "Narrator:" "The compounds are empty." "Iftheenemywas here earlier, they're gone now" "butthey'reoutthere somewhere, waiting." "1st Lt Jones:" "The biggest thing you hear a lot people talk about, a lot of the Marines that have been here before, is that they feel like they are fighting ghosts on the battlefield." "SSgt Sampson:" "It's umm I don't know four o'clock in the morning right now, four no its five o'clock in the morning." "We've been up since yesterday, so we haven't really slept." "Err maybe got a cat nap here and there." "Umm they use spotters and umm they shoot from concealed positions a lot umm or positions that provide them a lot of cover, a lot of times they're in murder holes." "They're small holes inside of compounds and we call them murder holes." "Capt Middendorf:" "What I tell the Marines, if we've killed all the dumb ones, so tactics evolve and that's their best way to have a successful attack is to shoot from a murder hole a thousand meters away and you know they'll fight another day." "Narrator:" "It'stime for Golf Company to dig in andfortify their fighting positions;" "thisistheir own fort apache." "Cpl Unis:" "We just got into our compound, we setting up security." "Throwing sandbags up to put on our post." "And err we can err find out if they're doing any radio chatter." "Back home like they don't even know really anything's going on anymore." "They hear that Iraq war ended and they think that the whole war ended, you know they think it was the same thing, so hey there's a war going on, there are people dying and there's people you" "know fighting for their lives out here." "LCpl Weilbach:" "I'd just be a little old kid and err my mom's friends they'll ask, quot;" "What do you want to do when you grow up?" "quot;" "They'd ask me and I'm like, quot;" "I want to be a Mercenaryquot;" "and they'd be like quot;" "What?" "quot;" "And my mom's like, quot;" "No, no, no, he meant Missionaryquot;" "and I'm like quot;" "No I said Mercenary." "I want to shoot guns and .quot;" "Narrator:" "Themarinesuse  their Afghan translators todecipher enemy radio traffic anddetermine their plans." "Capt Middendorf:" "As a Rifle Company my mission is to locate close within destroy of the enemy, so when he decides to show his face," "I've got the ability to close on him and" "I've got the some additional fire power." "That's really going to change the game for him, pretty dramatically." "Narrator:" "Another weapon in that fight is aT-Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle." "Thishandytoy allows them a safe and overheadlayof theland." "SSgt Sampson:" "They're getting ready to shoot at us." "Umm now that's pretty standard" "ICOM traffic around here." "Umm but it's bad for them 'cause they not very good marksman and as soon as they expose their positions they're probably going to get killed." "Sgt Kurek:" "We're fighting on their home turf, they know where everything's at we don't." "Umm they have pre-established fighting positions often times so err trying to get positive identification on them in a murder hole the size of a basketball is extremely difficult." "And again they blend in with the populist they wear the same that the locals do, so it's not like we fighting a uniformed force, err so that makes it extremely difficult." "1st Lt Jones:" "The worst part for me is leading up to the fire fight that's the worst, that's when the, you know the butterflies are turning." "It's when the shooting actually starts, that's ok with me I'm at peace once that goes, once that starts." "Marine:" "Just another day in paradise." "Marine 2:" "Yeah." "1st Lt Jones:" "I hate to worry where we suppose to make it to, sort of and err we're just kind of waiting." "There are a couple platoons behind us over here, but at the current time we're the furthest one east right now." "Just got to kind of get everybody in position umm before we begin our clear out in the village." "If they hit us right now it'll be from the East over there." "As soon as the sun is coming up, when it's going to blind us." "Give it about 30 more minutes." "Once they've moved everybody into position." "It is probably where they'll come from." "Narrator:" "That's where they're watching themarineswatchthem." "Sgt Barrow:" "The biggest hassle is finding out exactly where they are, there are so many spots out there where they can hit us from, it is one of the biggest things that gets to Marines, is not knowing where" "the fire is coming from." "It is easy to fire back but if you don't know what you're firing back at, then it is kinda pointless." "1st Lt Jones:" "The enemy does fight from a long ways away, they do understand the weapons systems, they understand the max effect of range and what they can shoot at you from and they do shoot from you know 3-400 meters" "away with an AK47 but a lot of times you'll see him at 800 meters to a 1,000 meters away because they know how accurate Marines are." "SSgt Sampson:" "About 1400 meters." "I think I still see him sitting there." "Right off the edge of that building." "There's a doorway and then maybe like ten meters from that doorway to the left." "1st Lt Jones:" "To the left, yeah I got it." "Narrator:" "GolfCompany can't continue their patrol untiltheyeliminate these Taliban scouts." "SoMiddendorf calls in the big guns." "SSgt Sampson:" "Basically we're waiting for an Abrams, if you look out there, there's an Abrams aimed battle tank." "We're waiting for it to be able to be clear to fire the main battle tank round that err previously used fighting position, err they going to reduce the building by firing that, main cannon." "Once the building's been reduced and we get the quot;all clearquot; our platoon's going to go ahead and move out and continue on our mission, continue our clear." "Narrator:" "Themarines destroy the Taliban's fighting position with one shot." "NowCaptainMiddendorf can continue his mission ofeliminatingtheenemyin one of their last strongholds." "Narrator:" "Hisradio picks up the surrounding" "Taliban'sreaction." "1st Lt Jones:" "Err they getting err ICOM traffic saying Taliban thinks we hit an IED because they heard the explosion." "1st Lt Jones:" "But they are sadly mistaken we did not hit an IED we destroyed their fighting position." "Narrator:" "Allclear." "Secondplatoonmust fan out and clear the next compound of Taliban fighters." "Marine:" "Yeah we're outside right now man." "Narrator:" "Thislandscape's littered with mud walled buildingsthatprovide the Taliban safe fighting positionsandoffersafe harbor for their drugs andweaponscaches." "Marine:" "There are plenty of places they can shoot us from." "Narrator:" "Andit 'sup  to Captain Middendorf andhismen to destroy them all." "Butfirstthey've got to get there and that meanscrossingmore open ground making them easytargets for an ambush." "Sincethestartof this deployment," "GolfCompanyhasn't sustained any fatalities, yet." "Capt Middendorf:" "Really my job is to set my men into motion to complete a mission whatever that is, maneuver platoons around the battle space and then integrating all the different support, whether it be fire support assets, whether it be tanks logistics to make sure" "my guys can accomplish the mission." "Sgt Kurek:" "Once we're on the deck than the confidence goes up quite a bit." "Once we're on the ground of course the IED threat than goes up, as well as any small arms fire we may take while we're making movements." "SSgt Sampson:" "See the smoke err 500 meters out there?" "Narrator:" "StaffSergeant Dusty Sampson keeps his" "M-4assaultrifle at the ready but carriesa javelin rocket system on his back justincase." "Onewrongsignal from their metal detector andthey'redeadbefore they know what hit 'em buteventhese sweepers aren't enough." "Notallimprovisedexplosive devices are made of metal." "Marine:" "Do we need a grenade?" "Narrator:" "Underground tunnels like this one or quot;" "Karezsystems,quot;areanother favorite Taliban hide out." "Marine:" "Two seconds." "1st Lt Jones:" "The Karez system is very, very difficult to deal with here." "It's a natural water source for whoever lives here." "It's been here for thousands of years." "It runs north to south and it's also used as a tunnel system for the enemy to fled fighters to different locations, they store their weapons down there and err it's really an unknown, it's a spooky place." "SSgt Sampson:" "The system is so complex that umm we send a camera down this thing and in different areas it would have multi leveled openings into these things, so they could literally come out of one hole into another and then key advantage to those guys." "Narrator:" "Thisone'sempty, but the search continues." "Marine:" "This side's clear." "Marine:" "Hey Lou." "Lou:" "What's up?" "Marine:" "Hey listen all this is clear." "Lou:" "Alright." "Sgt Kurek: 2/1 let's go." "Narrator:" "One compound down, twomoreto go  in this immediate area." "Sgt Kurek:" "How do you overcome fear?" "You rely on your training." "If you have tough realistic training and you do it in a repetitive manner you have nothing else to go back on other than your training." "I think there's been a few instances where some of the Marines have definitely been close to their pants from fear, but we've all adapted and overcome and gotten past that." "1st Lt Jones:" "I got nothing," "Golf Two's got nothing." "I'm not in position to see," "I'm going to continue heading east bounding across this open danger area, over." "Narrator:" "SecondPlatoon Golf Company moves out deeperinto Taliban territory." "They'renow leading the operation." "Buttheydo havetanks in support if they need it." "1st Lt Jones:" "Hey Sergeant Barrow, fasten up." "Do their best to keep moving, we got to stay out of these open areas." "1st Lt Jones:" "Roger moving, quickly and stay low." "Narrator:" "Thisarea is a source of one of" "Afghanistan's primary cash crops, opium." "Over75%of the world's heroin originates fromAfghanistan." "Thearea'sfertilesoil and general lawlessness makeitoneofthe world's best grow areas." "Butthesefields represent another danger, theiropenground." "AndrightnowSecond Platoon's totally exposed." "LCpl Weilbach:" "Then I hear bang, bang, bang, just snaps over my head, I'm like," "What, what the and I'm like, like the first thing I thought was someone was throwing firecrackers." "Narrator:2ndPlatoon's pinned down in an open field." "Theenemy'sjust 400 meters ahead fortified inanold concrete bunker." "Capt Middendorf:" "We've seen a drastic change in tactics of the Taliban in the north here in the last about twelve months." "They're very capable as far as the guerrilla force goes." "Fighting these guys and taking the fight to them is key to not allowing them to expand their influence." "1st Lt Jones:" "We were just at a complete tactical disadvantage for about an hour." "Get 2/1 on the hook Barrow and have them move out of this danger area." "Sgt Kurek:" "You guys got anything?" "Marine:" "Negative!" "1st Lt Jones:" "Ready to move!" "Go!" "And it was the worst feeling;" "absolute worst feeling in the world, there's nothing you can do about it you have you know 5-600 meters of open ground to cover." "Probably the scariest moment of my life really." "Six, this is Two;" "I got to get as far east as I can while these guys are shooting for us." "We're stuck out in the open." "Narrator:" "Backat  the command compound," "CaptainMiddendorf calls in his tanks and radiosforairsupport." "Capt Middendorf:" "Bart?" "Sgt Slife:" "Yes, sir?" "Capt Middendorf:" "We got two different target locations." "Sgt Slife:" "Yes, sir?" "Capt Middendorf:" "One is behind about 300 meters due east on compound one zero." "Sgt Slife:" "Yes, sir." "Narrator:" "Hequickly orders a J-Tar request:" "Thecallfor immediate air support fortroopsin combat." "Narrator:" "Theyscramble the birds as fast as they canfromthe base in Camp Bastion." "Buttheycanstilltake up to 25 minutes to get there." "Capt Middendorf:" "Roger." "3 Bravo you copy?" "Solider:" "Holy , that's definitely AK." "Sgt Kurek:" "We're going to be holding here for a sec." "Sgt Kurek:" "When you, when you getting rounds going over your head and umm IEDs going off and all sorts of other going on around you." "We call it the fog of war, other people call it quot;" "like hell on earthquot;" "I suppose, but that friction and uncertainty that you experience." "Solider:" "Whoo!" "Sgt Kurek:" "Certainly puts you in a different, gives you a different perspective on everything." "You guys all good over there?" "Marine:" "Yeah, we good." "Sgt Kurek:" "Alright." "Marine:" "Pass back to take the CMD out." "LCpl Weilbach:" "Hey, pass it back, tank to take out the CMD." "Marine:" "Hey Golf Two wants us to hold right now, they trying to get a tank to provide over watch for us, alright?" "Sgt Kurek:" "Yes, this is solid copy we're holding in place, waiting for a tank." "Marine:" "We got that tank rolling up, so." "Hey, pass up whose firing at what back there?" "Who's firing?" "At what?" "Marine:" "Hey what the they're shooting at?" "Marine 2:" "The tree line." "Marine:" "Right there?" "Marine 2:" "Yeah." "Marine:" "Alright, then shoot it." "Marine 2:" "Yes." "Marine:" "The tree line." "Marine 2:" "This?" "That pretty big tree line right here, it's the only one in that direction." "Sgt Slife:" "Pop Romeo, 988858, like they'll be start looking err in those compounds and the tree line surrounding, that's where err, where we're seeing these muzzle flashes at." "Narrator:" "Theair support arrives just in time." "Theattackchopperslay  down a steady stream of fire, attheenemy's position in the tree line." "Narrator:" "Giving Middendorf's men timetoscramble." "1st Lt Jones:" "Pound that!" "1st Lt Jones:" "That's affirm, err and my platoon, my real trace, we're just over halfway through the danger area, continuing to move east this time, over." "You got two minutes to get out of this danger area," "Tiger's going to suppress." "Narrator:" "Butthese Taliban are determined andkeepup a steady stream of fire." "SoMiddendorf calls in the tanks." "Marine:" "Yeah they're sitting out right about here." "Marine:" "Wonder if it isn't that bunker we tried to destroy, sir." "Capt Middendorf:" "What?" "Marine:" "Never mind, never mind, never mind." "Marine:" "It's definitely coming from the tree line." "Marine 2:" "All right, you want me to put a couple of bursts in the tree line?" "Marine:" "This is when I wish I had grenade, times like these." "Marine 2:" "Dude you can't even throw that far." "Marine:" "Yeah but." "Narrator:" "It'sa tricky dance coordinating thesupport Middendorf's men need froma  base a mile away." "Capt Middendorf:" "100 miles right from where he was engaging with his 240." "Capt Middendorf:" "Roger, 3-bravo you copy?" "Sgt Kurek:" "Yeah we took contact from the northwest side of the compound directly to our three o'clock, 50 meters away with green doors." "Marine:" "That tank can up." "Narrator:" "Finally, they make a break for it." "Marine:" "You ready?" "Marine 2:" "Let's go." "Marine:" "Keep your eyes on that, and this building here." "1st Lt Jones:" "Golf 6, Golf 6, Golf 2, rear trace has about 150 to 200 meters to go to clear the danger area at this time, over." "Narrator:" "AlltheCaptain can do is listen and pray." "Narrator:" "Butfromthe  Taliban chatter on the radio, itdoesn'tsoundlike they're rolling over." "Marine:" "Oh." "Marine:" "RPG." "Sgt Kurek:" "That came from our left." "Marine:" "We good?" "Where is it coming from anyway?" "Narrator:" "Suddenly the enemy tries flankingMiddendorf'smen, attacking from a bunker." "Timeforthe tanks to take charge." "Sgt Kurek:" "I think they going to be blowing a hole in that compound." "Capt Middendorf:" "Yes you're clear fire." "Marine:" "Hey go ahead light it up." "Marine 2:" "Ok." "Capt Middendorf:" "Yes you're clear fire." "Sgt Kurek:" "Ha-ha!" "Marine:" "Whoa!" "SSgt Sampson:" "Is that a secondary?" "Sgt Kurek: 2/3, 2/1 do we have a successful breach?" "Maine:" "That's an affirm." "Narrator:" "GolfCompany was pinned down by" "Talibanfire,until their tanks took charge." "1st Lt Jones:" "It's been the only time the entire deployment, that our company and specifically our platoon, has been in a tactical disadvantage against the enemy in a gunfight and it's not a good feeling at all." "It's probably like five minutes, but it seemed like an hour, err and it just never, it seemed like it would never stop." "Narrator:" "Buttheir15-day mission has only just begun." "They'vestillgotalot of enemy combatants to flushoutandkill, beforethey head back to base." "1st Lt Jones:" "Golf 6, Golf 6 from Golf 2, all of 2nd Platoon is out of that danger area, continue to move to assault position number two, we'll get back to with lead trace over." "Marine:" "Alright let's get into this compound." "I'm tired of standing in the open like this." "Sgt Kurek: 2/2, 2/1 we're moving." "Narrator:" "Another potential Taliban compound." "Andthis one's much bigger." "It'semptybutstillmay be mined or booby trapped." "Marine:" "Hi, guys." "Narrator:" "Themarines take a moment to regroup." "Andmakea startling discovery." "Marine:" "What's up?" "Sgt Barrow:" "Mashburn lost his IFAK." "Marine:" "He got a hole in it." "Sgt Barrow:" "Yeah." "Marine:" "Nice." "Narrator:" "Corporal Mashburn's been shot." "Marine:" "Where's Christopher Mashburn now?" "Let me see that IFAK Christopher." "Cpl Mashburn:" "The round's probably still inside there;" "else it would've hit my side sappy." "SSgt Sampson:" "One of my guys got really lucky." "He got shot in his umm, his IFAK, which is his umm medical kit." "And err he, he got pretty lucky because it's right here on the side." "The bullet would've been up a half, you know a half foot and it probably would've gone through his lungs and some, some vital parts there." "Cpl Mashburn:" "Feels like someone went like." "Marine:" "Punched you?" "Cpl Mashburn:" "Yeah, yeah." "Marine:" "That was pretty fun." "Cpl Unis:" "That's what I joined for, brother." "Marine:" "Hmm?" "Cpl Unis:" "That's what I joined for, brother." "Marine:" "Yeah that was pretty exciting actually." "Sgt Kurek:" "I mean it's combat so not everybody is going to exactly come back home or go uninjured." "That's kind of a terrifying experience, but again it's that adrenaline rush that's out of this world, that you can't really put into words for those back at home, unless they experience it." "1st Lt Jones:" "When the shooting actually starts and the rounds are going by your head or you know hitting in front of you," "I don't like it hitting in front of me." "I'd rather let them go over my head than hit in front of me." "When it's over your head it's gone, it's past you, there's nothing you can do about it so you just crack on, you keep going." "Capt Middendorf:" "When you've got your boots on the ground you can really see why we're doing some of the things that we're doing out here and why it's important." "Just don't want to lose, the whole war." "Cpl Unis:" "You are just fighting for the guys to your left and your right and you're not fighting for the commanding officer and you're not fighting to you know accomplish the mission and you're not fighting for the President of the United States," "you're just fighting for the guys that you're, that you're with and you really would you know, put your life on the line for these guys you know you would take a bullet for them, you really would" "and I think that's with everybody." "Sgt Barrow:" "There's no better group of guys that I'll ever work with for the rest of my life, than the ones I work with now." "I don't think I would ever hesitate to go ahead and throw myself out there on the line just to ensure that they came back." "Capt Middendorf:" "When the morale's high, the Marines know this is an important mission." "When a Marine understands his mission, he understands what his supposed to go do and why it's important he'll fight with a happy heart." "Narrator:" "Andouthere that fight never lets up." "Sgt Barrow:" "Hey, hey, hey, I got somebody out there." "Narrator:" "It's a Taliban scout." "Sgt Barrow:" "Yeah look directly that way Brookes you see you got the, there's the tree lines out there about a click out to your left." "Just a little bit above it you should see somebody standing up now." "Brookes:" "Yeah I see it." "Marine:" "I wish I could see what your talking about." "Narrator:" "Theenemy knows Golf Company is here." "Sgt Barrow:" "Hey, hey, hey, I got somebody out there." "Narrator:" "It's a Taliban scout." "Sgt Barrow:" "Yeah look directly that way Brookes you see you got the, there's the tree lines out there about a click out to your left." "Narrator:" "Iftheydon 't take out this threat now, itcouldcomeback and kill them later." "Marine:" "I've got a good view from up here." "SSgt Sampson:" "Okay." "Narrator:" "TheTaliban scout's out of rifle range, butthemarines can still reach it." "Timeforthebig guns." "StaffSergeantDusty Sampson's favorite weapon:" "Thejavelin." "SSgt Sampson:" "Be nice to my girl." "My baby the javelin err the javelin has been a umm, she's just an amazing weapon system;" "it's a beautiful thing when that thing goes off." "Marine:" "I see them alright;" "I got five individuals walking right to left." "SSgt Sampson:" "It fires pretty silently of all of the weapon systems." "Basically it shoots out and it's kind of err it, it just has a big enough explosion to make the missile drop out of the casing that comes in and then hovers there for a split second and then it takes off into the air on its" "own propellant." "Sgt Barrow:" "Just to the right of it, you'll see a guy sitting up there." "Sgt Kurek:" "Ok yeah I got eyes on those three Twinkies." "1st Lt Jones:" "Just look over the top of this compound, see, God damn how far is that, give me the FLUR, give me the FLUR." "1st Lt Jones:" "Hey relay to Golf 6, Compound 14, all black, AK47, between Building Twelve and Compound." "14, Charlie 5 Lima." "Marine: 900 meters seventy degrees." "Marine:" "What?" "Where's your COP?" "Marine:" "Yes." "1st Lt Jones:" "One male all white, PKM on his shoulder." "Narrator:" "Iftheyhope to kill this threat, it'sgottabe  with the javelin." "SSgt Sampson:" "It pretty much is a silent killer, it gets to the target very fast, unless you see it coming out at you, then you're not going to know it's coming." "You're pretty much is the truth of the matter." "SSgt Sampson:" "Urghh, no up, up, up, no the other way." "Marine:" "Whoo-hoo!" "Marine 2:" "That was an insane shot." "Marine:" "You him 'em, you hit 'em well." "Marine 2:" "Nah, nah you got 'em." "SSgt Sampson:" "The enemy does not know it's coming." "The radio chatter after I shot the guys that I shot, was like quot;" "What happened did an IED go off?" "quot;" "What happened like, they just were dumbfounded at the, the loss, they were, they just didn't know what the happened to them." "1st Lt Jones:" "Marines don't fight fair." "That's not war, this is not err, this is not a err boxing match behind the school house, where you put your gloves and your head gear on and you go out and you settle the score." "This is war you know, he shows up with an AK47, we show up with a tank." "1st Lt Jones:" "He shows up with a PKM machine gun, we show up with a 500 pound bomb dropped out of an aircraft." "1st Lt Jones:" "And that's, that gets your point across." "Narrator:" "That'soneless compound Second Platoon willhaveto worry about and one more group ofenemydispatched." "Marine:" "Wow." "Whoo, whoo!" "Damn, whoo, whoo!" "Marine:" "I'm going to let you see me shower tonight." "Marine 2:" "Ha, ha." "Marine:" "It's your birthday." "Narrator:" "They still have 14-days left beforethismissionends." "Butthe threat never ends." "LCpl Weilbach:" "A lot of guys ask you like, quot;" "Do you think it's all worth it like hiking, and the patrolling, the weight, the heat, the flies, the flies and the flies, are you going to take all that just for that adrenalin rush that," "to get to shoot at somebody?" "quot;" "Yes definitely it's worth it every time." "Capt Middendorf:" "Why do 18 year old kids want to sometimes sign up and fight, it's 'cause yeah they you know, they know that you can die, but guess what" "I was invincible when I was 18 years old."