# "COMBAT SCHOOL" Starts on Discovery Channel 10 Mar 09



## The Bread Guy

*From Boot Camp to Battle Field, Discovery Channel Goes to COMBAT SCHOOL With Canada's Armed Forces, March 10*

    -Unprecedented access to intensive combat training in preparation for
    Afghanistan-

    -Exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of Canadian soldiers' everyday life
    on DiscoveryChannel.ca-

    TORONTO, Feb. 17 /CNW/ - COMBAT SCHOOL follows - for the first time ever
- Canadian infantry soldiers as they undergo the most
technologically-advanced, intense and realistic combat training in military
history. Premiering Tuesday, March 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery Channel,
this six-part, one-hour Canadian documentary series goes directly to the heart
of modern warfare by following a platoon of 40 men and women from the time
they commence their training until they are declared battle-ready and
deployed. Granted unprecedented access by the Canadian military and combat
trainers, cameras are then embedded with the platoon in the war fields of
Afghanistan where viewers witness how the soldiers' skills are put to the
ultimate test when they encounter insurgents for the first time.

    (xx) For photography, soldiers' bios, episode descriptions and more,
visit www.ctvmedia.ca/Discovery. (xx)

    In COMBAT SCHOOL the training is intense and the expectations high. Those
who are unprepared won't make it, and those who are ready leave everything
behind to risk their lives in a war zone. Following soldiers from 1 Platoon,
Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment - based out of Petawawa,
Ontario - COMBAT SCHOOL captures every step of the mission-specific training
as the men and women prepare for the most intense combat situation they have
ever faced.
    Platoon leaders must ensure that these soldiers - some as young as 19 -
are fully trained before they enter the volatile combat zone. The soldiers
travel to Texas where topography and arid conditions mimic that of the Afghan
desert to begin their training. From there, they head to the Canadian
Manoeuvre Training Centre in Wainwright, Alberta for the most realistic,
complex and advanced combat training in the world.
    After months of demanding training, the battle-ready troops travel to
Afghanistan. Assigned to a Forward Operating Base in the heart of Taliban
territory - this will be the first time their combat skills are put to the
ultimate test in the theatre of war. They learn just how close the enemy is
after a rocket attack on their very first night at base.
    Offering special online access to COMBAT SCHOOL viewers, the newly
relaunched DiscoveryChannel.ca features exclusive bonus content, including
cool 3-D models, behind-the-scenes footage and video diaries. In these
personal accounts, the soldiers open up about everything from army rations to
desert accommodation.
    COMBAT SCHOOL is produced for Discovery Channel by Paperny Films....

_More on link_


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## Milhouser911

Is that what they were doing in wainwright?  I saw the crew, was wondering about this.  Right on, I'll be on the lookout for it.


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## MarkOttawa

A post at _The Torch_, with links to the series' website,
http://www.discoverychannel.ca/Showpage.aspx?sid=14403

and lots of relevant others:

"Combat School" on Discovery Channel TV, starting March 10 
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2009/03/combat-school-on-discovery-channel-tv.html

Mark
Ottawa


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## Castus

Not really from boot camp at all... but I guess for a civilian that doesn't matter much. It's all about Task Force training.


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## PMedMoe

CougarDaddy said:
			
		

> Duplicate topic, already posted here.



This one was posted on 17 Feb, while yours was posted 07 Mar.  Which one's the duplicate?


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## SoldierInTheMaking

exactly what I was about to say but I guess you we're a little quicker...


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## Mike Baker

Looks fairly intresting. I'll tune in.


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## PuckChaser

Unfortunately I'm on exercise, but its PVR'd! The trailer looked pretty good.


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## M Feetham

They were talking to the director this morning on Canada AM, it looks good, and the guy seemed genuinely interested in showing what it's really like for troops preparing for the "Sandbox". I'm interested to see the first instalment. 
Feet


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## SoldierInTheMaking

Yea, I'm pretty excited to watch it, it's going to be awesome.


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## Gideon

If you're unable to catch the show tomorrow discovery has a VOD site. Here's the link to the site, and an extras clip.
 http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/combat-school-/combat-school-episode-1-web-extras/


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## Armymedic

As a former 3 RCR Para/M Coy medic, its pretty cool to see the guys still doing their thing, and doing it well. I hope they all come home safely from the sandbox in a month or so.


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## Smirnoff123

Just watched the premier, I thought it was good and looks like its going to be a great series. Is it going to be played every Tuesday?


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## medicineman

Saw the first show tonight and was impressed to see who the OC Mike was - he was 2i/c India when we went to Kabul in '03 and Midnight Rambler was our LAV Capt (as well as man who had vays of making ze Germans talk).  Look forward to next week's episode.

MM


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## Nauticus

I managed to record it. The trailers and previews looked pretty good, so I'm looking forward to watching it.


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## SoldierInTheMaking

I really enjoyed it, gives me a real eye opener on what to expect when I get to combat school. Wont be for a couple years but at least I get to see what it's like. Can't wait for next weeks episode, is it every Tuesday at 22:00?


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## Antoine

I am confused, on the web site of Discovery Channel, they say 10pm PT, however, the show started at 7pm, pacific time (Vancouver) today, and I'am not able to get to their schedule for PST through their web site. 

I've enjoyed the show. I'am proud of them.

I'am just disappointed that my friends and colleagues don't want to watch the show as they say it is CF propaganda. How well it has been well discussed in other threads.

Anyway I found the comments posted on the Combat School show web site positive, that is encouraging !

Cheers !


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## Tow Tripod

Hey I thought tonights episode was pretty good. It should give a good insight into how much PRE TRAINING that while is sometimes "PAINFULL" it still has to be conducted. It also shows the minor differences between the PPCLI and the RCR regiments. Those that are in will understand!!!


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## aesop081

Tow Tripod said:
			
		

> It also shows the minor differences between the PPCLI and the RCR regiments. Those that are in will understand!!!



You are talking about the pants being bloused ain't ya ?


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## Antoine

In reply to my previous post, the show is back on at 10 PM (PST) tonight. Sorry for confusion.


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## ltmaverick25

Unfortunately I had to work tonight and was not able to catch the episode.  Anyone know of anywhere I can see the episode online?


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## aesop081

Seems to be only the web extras for now but if its going to be like Jetstream, the episodes are available online the following week.

http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/combat-school-/#clip146250


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## psychedelics07

I enjoyed the show,  unfortunately it's on the same time as The Hour and Jason Segel was on.  So I missed a few minutes...


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## Lil_T

I liked it.  Pretty neat to really see what goes on during the pre-deployment training.


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## MarkOttawa

It's on at other times too:
http://www.discoverychannel.ca/Showpage.aspx?sid=14403



> (EST) Select time zone
> AST
> CST
> MST
> NST
> PST
> SHOWTIMES
> Full show listings
> 
> Wednesday, March 11 2009
> 4:00 PM
> Combat School: One Platoon
> Forty men and women from 1 Platoon, Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment begin training for the most intense combat situation they've ever faced; the platoon travels to Fort Bliss, Texas, which mimics the Afghan terrain, to begin training.
> Duration: 60 minutes
> Click anywhere to close
> 
> Thursday, March 12 2009
> 11:00 AM
> Combat School: One Platoon
> Forty men and women from 1 Platoon, Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment begin training for the most intense combat situation they've ever faced; the platoon travels to Fort Bliss, Texas, which mimics the Afghan terrain, to begin training.
> Duration: 60 minutes
> Click anywhere to close
> 
> Tuesday, March 17 2009
> 10:00 PM
> Combat School: Ep. 2
> With the reality that 1 Platoon is further behind in training than any other platoon at Fort Bliss, company commander Oberwarth does not mince words to get them motivated; the soldiers learn to clear a mock village of Taliban.
> Duration: 60 minutes
> Click anywhere to close
> 
> Wednesday, March 18
> 1:00 AM
> Combat School: Ep. 2
> With the reality that 1 Platoon is further behind in training than any other platoon at Fort Bliss, company commander Oberwarth does not mince words to get them motivated; the soldiers learn to clear a mock village of Taliban.
> Duration: 60 minutes
> Click anywhere to close
> 
> Wednesday, March 18 2009
> 4:00 PM
> Combat School: Ep. 2
> With the reality that 1 Platoon is further behind in training than any other platoon at Fort Bliss, company commander Oberwarth does not mince words to get them motivated; the soldiers learn to clear a mock village of Taliban.
> Duration: 60 minutes
> Click anywhere to close



Mark 
Ottawa


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## PMedMoe

Cool, I'm watching it right now!!  Turns out I _do_ have Discovery Channel!


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## WW_

Awsome show, And I thought I head Sgt. Major.  ;D


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## TN2IC

Ah hahaha! Dan Martin on the first show.. getting nail for not taking a knee. Him and I did our PLQ together. Good guy...


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## geo

Watched it last night.... the Mrs also watched it - she got a better idea of what the lead up training was all about.  I enjoyed the Italian fella from Montreal - doesn't tell his mum that he jumps out of planes (para coy) and tells her that he's just gone down to the US - to hang around with the Yanks  ... Unfortunately for me... the Mrs also heard that & now knows that I have had a tendency to minimize what I do when away


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## daftandbarmy

I thought it was quite realistic: like training for desert warfare at 20 below in the snow (yes, it has all been done before!).

Question: Do we really need to go to Texas to do this type of live fire training? I don't know enough about our own ranges anymore to comment.

Well done VRI! Get some...


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## HItorMiss

Sadly Dafty yeah we do.

Many ranges here are just not adequate for what we need to do once we mover past Coy level.


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## FormerHorseGuard

I thought the show was very  educational for the viewer at home to see what  our fine soldiers do. Very entertaining to see  even the full timers make mistakes and get read the  riot act. I remember the riot act being read to me as a recruit often enough and on my  CLC . I hope the guys who on the show get to see the hard work they  do and the  problems they  come across with humour and light hearted feelings towards the  video crew for catching them at their worse and at their best.
Beats any  show I have seen on the Military  Channel about training them darn Yankees. 
I cannot wait to see the next show


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## geo

In a North American context, training in Texas in winter is a good thing.
You could probably do the same in Wainwright during the summer.

BUT, Ft Bliss does a good job of emulating where we will ultimately have to fight.... cheap (inexpensive) at any price


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## Armymedic

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> I thought it was quite realistic: like training for desert warfare at 20 below in the snow (yes, it has all been done before!).
> 
> Question: Do we really need to go to Texas to do this type of live fire training? I don't know enough about our own ranges anymore to comment.



I think you answered your own question. This training was done during winter. Snow and cold do not make for effective weapons training, esp when you are in prep for ops somewhere where there is neither in that extreme.


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## Armymedic

Mr Plow said:
			
		

> Ah hahaha! Dan Martin on the first show.. getting nail for not taking a knee. Him and I did our PLQ together. Good guy...



I am guessing you weren't taught about those metal leg thingies that flip out from under the front grip of the C9. They would make the gun shoot straighter if they are placed on the ground and the shooter is laying behind it.


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## Wookilar

I liked it as well. I was quite pleased that it didn't seem overly "sanitized" which is what I was worried about mostly. Looking forward to next week.

The CSM talking to the Sgt's was classic  ;D

Wook


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## 2 Cdo

Seen a few Royals I recognized, and had to laugh at the f*ckups that people commit the first couple days of an ex. Some things never change but I'm sure they will get up to speed before deploying.

If they don't I feel sorry for the NCO's!


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## Bzzliteyr

"contact, white out!!"

I am surprised that they never had anyone from the military listen to the radio chatter that they transcribed at the bottom of the screen.  Any soldier that has gotten past their DP1 could tell you that the voice procedure is "wait, out".

Little things like that burn me... just take an hour to have a REAL soldier or two watch the show before you send it up the pipes.  I suggested the same thing to the reporters that visited us in Afghanistan - let me proof read before you send it up to avoid the dreaded Cpt. bloggins and Pvt. mistakes.

/end rant.. off to lunch.


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## PMedMoe

Bzz, I saw that too and kind of gave a chuckle.  What's White-Out going to do, is there a mistake?  

However, I agree with you on having it vetted/edited by military personnel.


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## Bzzliteyr

It's just such a preventable thing.. that it frustrates me.


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## 2 Cdo

Bzzliteyr said:
			
		

> It's just such a preventable thing.. that it frustrates me.



I have the same issue sometimes with movies about the military and war. Really, how hard would it be to have an ex-military troop to overlook and smooth out some of the outrageous, unrealistic things movies sometimes portray.


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## geo

We'd go into detail... too much detail to entertain the masses


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## aesop081

2 Cdo said:
			
		

> I have the same issue sometimes with movies about the military and war. Really, how hard would it be to have an ex-military troop to overlook and smooth out some of the outrageous, unrealistic things movies sometimes portray.



Most war-type movies have military advisors on the set. The thing is that they just "advise" and the "hollywood factor" always trumps everything else.


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## Antoine

Couple years ago, I have watched a "left wing" documentary on CBC about connection with Hollywood movies and US military as well with video game industry as a tool for recruiting and military public relation. They were suggesting a strong military lobbying in movie industry. Also, they lower the cost of renting military stuff (field, soldjer, equipment) if a military advisors is allowed to polish the script.

However, the documentary had a strong message against the military so I don't give them 100% credits.


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## Antoine

I have to add that I am not part of the new world order conspiracy team, if anyone was wondering about.


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## BradCon

I have read in a couple of places that the US Army bankrolled many War films during WW1 and WW2.

Prviate Snafu i just one easy to find example of the Armies ties to Hollywood.


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## Smirnoff123

Good episode tonight, felt bad for the guy guarding the LAV


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## SoldierInTheMaking

I missed it hopefully there's a repeat.


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## Antoine

Really good, it gave a good idea about leadership skills in action ! Good job !


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## ltmaverick25

I was looking to see if the first episode was available on the internet yet.  Still nothing


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## Bzzliteyr

I had the first episode PVR'd and started to watch it.. my gf called and I'm no longer sure if I got to finish it but I deleted it without thinking.
  
Does anyone know how episode one ends?  Do the taliban win? Do they save the free world from impending doom?!?

I'll never know and I plan on watching episode 2 soon.  I need continuity!!!


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## Larkvall

Here is the first part of episode 1, but I don't know where to find the rest.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_FqogzSJIs


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## PMedMoe

It's on at different times, too.  See MarkOttawa's post #24.

http://www.discoverychannel.ca/Showpage.aspx?sid=14403

I plan on watching it at 1600 today.


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## Eye In The Sky

I liked when the young Lt 'couldn't contain himself' and made the run for the mosque...only to have the MCpl O/C take him out. 

Better to learn those lessons in tng.  I thought the Lt was showboating alittle too much for the camera.


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## ltmaverick25

Unfortunately due to absurd circumstances, I currently only have access to American stations so I cant catch the re-runs.

If anyone finds where the rest of the episode can be watched I would greatly appreciate the link.


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## R. Jorgensen

Eye In The Sky said:
			
		

> I liked when the young Lt 'couldn't contain himself' and made the run for the mosque...only to have the MCpl O/C take him out.
> 
> Better to learn those lessons in tng.  I thought the Lt was showboating alittle too much for the camera.



He showboatted it to the max (within professional guidelines).

"Where'd that round come from!? Hey! Where'd the round come from!?"

Most likely, if you've been shot, you don't question where the round came from, but rather if you're going to live or not.


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## Franko

The crew constantly got in the way in Bliss. Hell, half the time we had to check fire in the tanks when they were around.

AFAIK they were told to play it up a bit.

As for asking where insurgent fire is coming from...it happens on a two way range, it happens a lot more than you think...regardless of rank.

As for the end of the story...they're all here in Afghanistan with us, taking it to shyte heads everyday.

Regards


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## Haletown

Looked like damn good training to me.  The guys had to be switched on to get it done.

Kudos to the training cadre  . . . not a lot of glory but they'll save a lot of lives.


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## Snakedoc

Great show, I've really enjoyed the episodes I've seen so far!  I wonder with 'Jet Stream' coming out at the beginning of 2008, 'Combat School' coming out at the beginning of this year.....could Discovery be planning a naval version for the beginning of 2010  

It would be interesting to see a series about a ship going through work-ups for a deployment.  Anybody hear any scuttle-butt about the latter?


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## geo

was watching the series last night.
Interesting when a glitch in the system created a situation where the platoon suddenly had some 40+ casualties to deal with..... later "fixed" to a manageable 5.


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## SoldierInTheMaking

At the end of the episode it said there is only going to be one more training exercise until the leave for Afghanistan, does this mean it's the last episode?


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## Fide et Fortitudine

No, I think they said there are 6 episodes and they did do some filming in Afghanistan


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## SoldierInTheMaking

Fide et Fortitudine said:
			
		

> No, I think they said there are 6 episodes and they did do some filming in Afghanistan



Sweet, that should be interesting to watch.


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## wannabe SF member

I was pretty surprised about the whole drunk driving business.

I guess I just don't see that kind of things happening to CF members.


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## SoldierInTheMaking

The incongruous said:
			
		

> I was pretty surprised about the whole drunk driving business.
> 
> I guess I just don't see that kind of things happening to CF members.



Yea that must really suck for him, he was really pumped to go. Awesome episode though, they kicked a** on that exercise.


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## Armymedic

That is what I like about this show....it shows the good and the bad.


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## ScotiaShooter

I really enjoyed the final episode in Afghanistan but i found it was a little too short and left me wanting to see more. I wish they could have continued filming although im going to assume it would have caused problems regarding the safety of both the troops and the film crew?


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## PuckChaser

I have all of these episodes PVR'd, and since I have Discovery HD, it's all HD except for 1 episode I missed.

Great series, definately showed the good, the bad and not so much ugly. The animations were pretty good too.


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