Did anyone watch?

CM good!

yes I watched.

It still baffles me as to why only one squad let truck 23 go by, and the rest shot at it. And I'm surprised they kicked out potter. He was a cool dude.

How come they only did one exercise for points, when last week those two squads did two?

Why do I think that most of Shadow Squad consists of kicked out members from combat missions, and replacement recruits?

Is it just me, or are most of these teams performing poorly. Granted that these teams are made up of people from different branches of the military and police, but come on, they're supposed to be pros and some of the best at what they do. When four or five of your squad die in one mission, there's something wrong. Especially when Shadow squad only takes cover for a few seconds and then comes running out like Rambo. And whats with firing on truck 23??? The were briefed that the truck would clearly have a 13 on it. Only one team noticed that the first truck was 23? I will say that most of the contestants are good marksmen, but you need strategy, not just good aim, to stay alive. I'm not a military expert by any means, but I thought that losing even one man on a mission was a big deal, let alone most of the squad!

By the way, in case you thought these guys were doing this show only because it would be fun and challenging, this is listed on the CM site:

"This competition will initially be squad against squad for a $150,000 team winner. Then it will culminate in a final showdown mano a mano for $250,000 of prize money."

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. The final showdown sounds interesting. Oh, and one more thing, was the Rudy's haircut segment really necessary?

Another good ep last night... in most training exercises, it seems like OpFor... the "opposing force," Shadow Squad in this case, usually kicks butt. So from my training experience, how the Combat Missions squads are doing is about par for the course. I still can't believe that only one squad let 23 go through, either, though.

I was kind of worried that Bugarin was going to get the axe, since he's been Charlie Squad leader for the past two missions, which they've lost. I'm sure there's more to John Potter than what we saw, but what I saw, I didn't like too much. Even if Rudy likes the guy. I'm surprised with all the talk of needing physical strength, they didn't axe Bugarin, who looks like he's the runt of the squad.

So THAT's who that woman is... the camp medic/barber. For some reason, I don't dislike her like I dislike the Snake Pit Vipers. Possibly because she performs an actual important function for the camp, as opposed to just being T&A. Although she is prettier than the SPVs by far. I'm glad they didn't focus TOO much on her & Justin.

It was interesting to hear that, in two more weeks, when a squad loses a man, they start playing short-handed, as opposed to just rotating someone out. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. They'll be at a disadvantage when it comes to laying down fire, but I can see how a smaller squad that can move quickly could do better on missions that rely on stealth or speed.

I need to quit watching the next episode previews, because they give away WAY too much. From what I saw, Also, it looks like that female Army major gets to speak again! Good for her! Too bad she's screeching rather than talking.

Fire bad!

Maybe the people who were worried this show would demystify the spec ops superman mystique were right.

But I want to know how anyone can sneak up on someone else when they have a camera crew(s) following them around.

The biggest question I still have, which was touched on in an earlier post, is why the Shadow Squad sucks so bad. I mean, in the latest episode they did a little better, but they run out from behind cover flailing their guns around like total idiots. Also, I think it was the very first show when some team was strolling around the hills looking fo the tank without any consideration of possible enemies, the 2 Shadow Squad guys who were bunkered behind the sand bags opened fire on the unsespecting team and I think they only hit one team member, if that. The only reason I can think of for having the Shadow Squad shoot so poorly and run out from behind cover is that it would be boring if they stayed protected. I personally think it would be more interesting if those guys acted like a team and actually tried to kill the attacking teams. I know Shadow Squad killed a lot of guys in this last scenario, but it was really the teams' lack of skill and performance rather than good defense by the Shadow Squad that resulted in the kills.

I've noticed Shadow Squad isn't the brightest squad on the block, either. Let's think back to the first mission... a lot of times, Shadow Squad is ambushing the CM squad from an elevated position, in some sort of bunker, where they have cover and concealment in addition to their elevated position. Yet, their standard tactic was to fire off a couple of rounds, and then get up OUT OF THEIR FIGHTING POSITION and charge the CM squad, tossing away any of the advantages their fighting position gave them.

I think this is sort of an unwritten CM rule for them... because if Shadow Squad stuck to their fighting positions, it would take the CM squad too much time and cost them too many casualties to take out every Shadow Squad fighting position. Especially since there's no MILES equivalent of a grenade (AFAIK), which I'd think that the CM squad would use in assaulting a bunker.

Hypothesis: Shadow Squad is not allowed to be completely tactically sound when facing off against the CM Squads... otherwise, they'd wipe the floor with them, and it wouldn't be interesting TV if every CM squad failed its missions.

Fire bad!

Can anyone with military experience comment on the squads' performances? Are they peforming well against Shadow Squad? Are these simulations realistic?

I have a little military experience. I'm not sure how doctrinally sound sending six infantry troops to blow up a tank in broad daylight would be. Most tanks don't just sit in the middle of open ground, too, and not move. Also, if I WERE to send infantry troops to blow up a tank, it wouldn't be by throwing a satchel underneath it... I'd be using some sort of rocket to take it out. The standard infantry weapon against light armor right now is the M136 AT-4:



When I was at Fort Knox this summer, I think I remember some people talking about a more advanced anti-tank weapon coming out, but I forget what it was.

The second mission... the POW rescue... makes a heck of a lot more sense as a small unit infantry mission than blowing up a tank, IMO.

One of the things that takes away from the realism (like I said above) is the lack of grenades. I think that infantry troops would either have hand grenades and/or M203 grenade launchers fitted to their rifles.

It also looks like the squads are leaving their "dead" behind, which I don't think a special forces unit would do unless absolutely necessary.

Fire bad!