# The Battle for Marjah



## daftandbarmy (5 Dec 2012)

Holy cr*p, over.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1zBZWGKJJY


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## Towards_the_gap (5 Dec 2012)

Sigh.......my war gone by I miss it so.....


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## mwc (8 Dec 2012)

Great Doc, watched it numerous times over the past few years


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## The Bread Guy (30 Dec 2012)

Just got this one on Blu-Ray for Xmas - thanks Santa!


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## The Bread Guy (8 Mar 2013)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> Just got this one on Blu-Ray for Xmas - thanks Santa!


Finally got around to watching it.

Decent coverage of how the Marines did their job, but my question is this:  if the movie sells itself as "Follow(ing) Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines into the heart of the war in Afghanistan", why does it spend so much time talking to civilian casualties from ANOTHER Marine company?  I can't see into the hearts of the producers, but cynics can find more than enough evidence of bias - one might wonder if they thought, "hey, this is going too well, but these other guys killed civilians - let's shoot that, too!"


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## MikeL (8 Mar 2013)

IMO,  they were trying to be honest and cover the whole story,  not just the positives.  Plus it helps show what was happening a few kms away to give you a bit more of a broader view into how things were going on the ground.

I think they did a good job covering the operation and all of it's positives as well as the negatives.  I also like how they showed what happened afterwards as well.


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## 2ndChoiceName (8 Mar 2013)

Watched it a few months ago, just wondering, why did the EOD Tech walk up to the IED like that and place the charge? Wouldn't it have sufficed to just throw it or something? Seems like a somewhat unnecessary risk seeing as he wasn't even wearing the suit. Is that commonplace?


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## MikeL (8 Mar 2013)

2ndChoiceName said:
			
		

> Watched it a few months ago, just wondering, why did the EOD Tech walk up to the IED like that and place the charge? Wouldn't it have sufficed to just throw it or something? Seems like a somewhat unnecessary risk seeing as he wasn't even wearing the suit. Is that commonplace?




I never saw any of the EOD guys get into a bomb suit when I was in Afghanistan.  I'm sure they wouldn't want to be carrying a bomb suit for an extended time on a dismounted operation either.  


I'm no Engineer,  but I would imagine throwing an explosive at a IED isn't ideal. 

The EOD pers are trained/experienced and know what they are doing.  You might see something as a unnecessary risk,  but to them it might be the best way of dealing with it based on their knowledge.


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## 2ndChoiceName (8 Mar 2013)

Wow. I'd like to think that I'm brave enough, but you couldn't pay me enough to walk up to an IED like that!


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## McG (8 Mar 2013)

I thought it was fairly balanced … the Marines came of as human, neither rockstars nor clowns.
There was at least as much coverage of restraint as there was of the four civilian deaths.

… and the little guy with the mouth got more attention than either restraint or collateral damage.


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## daftandbarmy (9 Mar 2013)

2ndChoiceName said:
			
		

> Wow. I'd like to think that I'm brave enough, but you couldn't pay me enough to walk up to an IED like that!



I have seen a guy walk up to a suspect device and give it a good football kick. Once. We had a healthy cordon around it, but seriously dude...

He got away with it though. Must have been the maroon lid.  ;D


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## Journeyman (9 Mar 2013)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> Must have been the maroon lid.


Clearly   :nod:


(...just imagine if he'd been wearing tan   )


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## PuckChaser (10 Mar 2013)

2ndChoiceName said:
			
		

> Watched it a few months ago, just wondering, why did the EOD Tech walk up to the IED like that and place the charge? Wouldn't it have sufficed to just throw it or something?



What if he hit it with the charge, and it triggered an anti-handling switch and detonated? Then that EOD tech has lost control of when the explosion is going to happen, and people might not be under cover (including him/her throwing the charge).


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## 2ndChoiceName (10 Mar 2013)

> What if he hit it with the charge, and it triggered an anti-handling switch and detonated? Then that EOD tech has lost control of when the explosion is going to happen, and people might not be under cover (including him/her throwing the charge)



This is all conjecture, because I don't know anything about actually defusing IEDs, but doesn't the Tech already not really have control over when the explosion is going to happen because there could be a trigger man waiting for him to get close like that? And to me it's kind of a calculated risk of missing the IED or triggering an anti-handling switch because if that doesn't work you can always go up and place it by hand.


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## Towards_the_gap (12 Mar 2013)

2ndChoiceName said:
			
		

> This is all conjecture, because I don't know anything about actually defusing IEDs, but doesn't the Tech already not really have control over when the explosion is going to happen because there could be a trigger man waiting for him to get close like that? And to me it's kind of a calculated risk of missing the IED or triggering an anti-handling switch because if that doesn't work you can always go up and place it by hand.




How about you just stop right there, before you really look silly....


...and I'm being nice here...


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## 2ndChoiceName (13 Mar 2013)

> How about you just stop right there, before you really look silly....



I didn't post that to show everyone how much smarter I was than everyone else and how I know how to do things better than trained professionals, I genuinely would like to know if that is commonplace and why they do it that way. I was fully aware that at some point someone who knows better would come along and correct me. Also, it is beginning to dawn on me that this is in the wrong thread and I may or may not be way out of my lane so I shall leave unless anyone would like to shed some light on this.


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## daftandbarmy (13 Mar 2013)

2ndChoiceName said:
			
		

> I didn't post that to show everyone how much smarter I was than everyone else and how I know how to do things better than trained professionals, I genuinely would like to know if that is commonplace and why they do it that way. I was fully aware that at some point someone who knows better would come along and correct me. Also, it is beginning to dawn on me that this is in the wrong thread and I may or may not be way out of my lane so I shall leave unless anyone would like to shed some light on this.



I'd suggest having a peek at programs available on YouTube like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g109oAEAoqY

Talking about EOD tactics in a forum like this is kind of like approaching a leaky IED by hopping like a large bunny.... (dang, where's that Easter Bunny smiley?)


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## 2ndChoiceName (13 Mar 2013)

Alright, thanks for the link. Sorry everyone if I caused a stir.


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