Army Videos - The Documentary Network

The Last Voyage – USS Enterprise

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:40:59 +0000

The legendary USS Enterprise aircraft carrier has served as a constant reminder of American military power. After serving in every major conflict since the early 1960s it has now finally been decommissioned. "You go up on this flight deck, four and half acres of US sovereign territory, it can go wherever we need it to go without a permission slip." For five decades this giant war machine has patrolled the world's oceans, featuring in Hollywood blockbusters and engaging with every major conflict since the Cuban missile crisis. But as the world's conflicts change, so has technology, and now warships like the Enterprise are being replaced. "We're building an aircraft carrier right now that's going to be a technological leap that will be so much further advanced." For Eric Young, the ship's longest serving crewmember, it's an emotional farewell. "It's been a great ship. A great tour for me. There's a lot of history here."

The Draft Dilemma – European Military Recruitment

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:19:13 +0000

"We are analysing our target groups, trying to understand what attracts them and get that into our commercials". Sweden suspended conscription in 2010. Since then, as in many other European countries, their military has had to fight for recruits. In Denmark continued conscription is justified by its "leadership training" and "very good salary". The British army argues it offers the same, on a voluntary basis. Yet for those with no previous training, life after service can be very tough. Veteran Gerry explains, "I couldn't find a job because of my damaged legs - so I turned to crime".

Street Vets – Homeless Veteran – PBS Documentary Film

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:26:54 +0000

Over 100,000 United States Veterans are homeless every year. In this one-hour documentary, filmmaker Issac Goeckeritz takes viewers into the largely invisible world of homeless veterans and the difficult, but hopeful, pathways home. DVD available at www.igfilms.com.

The Business of War – SOFEX – Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:45:05 +0000

SOFEX takes place every two years in Amman. Over the course of a week, more than 12,000 attendees tromped around 30-odd tents staked across the desert, hosting approximately 300 vendors. The atmosphere was insidious but open, an organized free-for-all in which American companies like Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and General Dynamics sold weapons to almost anyone who could afford them. 85 different countries meet, talk, discuss and buy weapons - and eventually will use them to kill each other.

You know, it’s weird, man. It’s like everybody’s real cordial with each other. But, at the end of the day, we’re, like, buying weapons to destroy each other. I don’t want to, like, sound liberal or anything. But it’s really not glamorous. This shit fucking kills people. 6'4" Marine Corps Force Recon sergeant

A film by Vice Co-Founder Shane Smith

Robot Wars – Unmanned systems in the Battlefield

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:31:21 +0000

Over the past decade, the US military has shifted the way it fights its wars, deploying more unmanned systems in the battlefield than ever before. Today there are more than 7,000 drones and 12,000 ground robots in use by all branches of the military. These systems mean less American deaths and also less political risk for the US when it takes acts of lethal force – often outside of official war zones. But US lethal drone strikes in countries like Pakistan have brought up serious questions about the legal and political implications of using these systems. The film looks at how these new weapons of choice are allowing the US to stretch the international laws of war and what it could mean when more and more autonomy is developed for these lethal machines.

Life and Death in the War Zone

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:41:47 +0000

Treating patients with life-threatening injuries is always a challenge. This film shows the "routine" in handling a medical emergency at the height of the Iraq War, beset by heat, sand, and frequent enemy attacks. Viewer discretion is advised, you will see major inquries.

Hollywood and the War Machine

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:57:10 +0000

War is hell, but for Hollywood it has been a Godsend, providing the perfect dramatic setting against which courageous heroes win the hearts and minds of the movie going public. The Pentagon recognises the power of these celluloid dreams and encourages Hollywood to create heroic myths; to rewrite history to suit its own strategy and as a recruiting tool to provide a steady flow of willing young patriots for its wars. What does Hollywood get out of this 'deal with the devil'? Access to billions of dollars worth of military kit, from helicopters to aircraft carriers, enabling filmmakers to make bigger and more spectacular battle scenes, which in turn generate more box office revenue. Providing they accept the Pentagon's advice, even toe the party line and show the US military in a positive light. So is it a case of art imitating life, or a sinister force using art to influence life and death - and the public perception of both?

The 9/11 Decade: The Image War

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:58:44 +0000

9/11: It was a PR stunt which killed thousands and launched a propaganda war that has, so far, lasted a decade. Since then, the US and al-Qaeda have competed furiously to win "hearts and minds" with elaborate media strategies. Spin, threats, lies, censorship, the killing of journalists; how far has each side been prepared to go to win the propaganda war? In the "war on terror" the exploitation of images was to become a matter of life and death, as both the US and al-Qaeda bombarded the world with media designed to win people over to their side. It started with 9/11 itself: an act of terror staged as a global media event and the catalyst for a decade of propaganda war. But al-Qaeda's canny use of 9/11 imagery, which included saving footage of the attackers for release at a later date so as to maximise publicity, gave way to serious errors in judgement as the group's use of beheadings not only terrorised viewers but also alienated one-time sympathisers. The US, for its part, did not perform any better with Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib becoming prime examples of how to lose a war. Source: Aljazeera

FARC Guerrillas – A war that never ends?

Documentary.net staff — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:45:28 +0000

After decades of war, today the Colombian government claims to be putting an end to one of the oldest guerrilla organisations in the world: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The strategy that accompanies the government's military strikes is to offer opportunities and guarantees to those soldiers who decide to leave the ranks of the group. But can Colombia keep its promise of peace for the ex-FARC guerrillas returning home from the jungle - and can they resist temptations? In the following account, filmmaker Russ Finkelstein describes the issues behind the demobilisation programme and why many ex-FARC guerrillas are struggling with demobilisation. The FARC has been fighting a revolution in Colombia for 47 years now. What first began as a Marxist-inspired struggle over land rights, social and agrarian reforms and resistance to neo-imperialism has been intensified and warped by the influence of the extremely lucrative cocaine trade. At times, the FARC has held support among Colombia's lower classes, especially in the countryside. In other contexts they have been feared and despised for their ruthless tactics. The Colombian government, the US state department and the European Union consider them to be a terrorist organisation. Alvaro Uribe, who was president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010, made eradicating the FARC a top priority of his administration. Contrary to his predecessor, Andres Pastrana Arango, who held peace talks with the guerrillas, Uribe took a hardline approach to ending the conflict; perhaps in part because his own father was killed by the FARC during a 1983 kidnapping attempt. During his presidency, Uribe launched countless military operations against the group, and his former minister of defence and the country's current president, Juan Manuel Santos, has kept putting an end to the FARC a top priority of the current administration. For the guerrillas, the harshness of the jungle combined with enduring increasingly effective military strikes has made life for the combatants treacherous, if not intolerable. Thousands of the groups remaining members have been tempted to defect thanks to the government's demobilisation programme, which consist of a pardon for having been a member of a terrorist organisation as well as economic, educational and psychological assistance while integrating into civilian life. The Santos government considers the programme, along with the military pressure on the FARC, to be successful, citing the large numbers of demobilised combatants as forward progress in the seemingly endless war. "The best way to win the war is to prevent combat from continuing while still being able to achieve one's objectives," said President Juan Manuel Santos at a recent forum on the demobilisation process, adding, "How can we defeat them as quickly as possible? Of course military action continues. They are constantly adapting, they have and continue to finance themselves through drug trafficking, and so what will put an end to them once and for all? We have told them to demobilise and form part of the [demobilisation] programme, because if they don't it will either be jail or the grave. For this to be more convincing, we've got to make demobilisation more attractive, and we've got to make the threat of jail or the grave more effective." While we were making Hard Road Back, it became apparent that for the ex-combatants the war does not necessarily end with their demobilisation. The FARC continues to exist. They consider their defected former comrades, including those who participated in our film, to be traitors to the organisation, an offence punishable by death. Most of the ex-combatants we spent time with were hesitant at first to appear on camera as they generally try to remain anonymous for the sake of their personal safety. Additionally, they do not usually discuss their pasts as they try to avoid discrimination they are likely to face in a society that generally considers them to be terrorists, extortionists, kidnappers, torturers, rapists and murderers. For these reasons many of the demobilised leave their homes in the countryside to settle in large cities where they can live anonymously. For their personal surrender as well as for their participation in psychological counselling and basic education, the ex-combatants receive a modest monthly stipend from the government. The programme also allows them plenty of free time in which they are encouraged to work. We learned however after talking to dozens of ex-combatants in the programme, that with little if any education, few employable skills and the discrimination they face as former terrorists, the demobilised ex-combatants generally live lives of poverty. At the same time, the war continues to manifest and change. New armed groups have sprung up in marginal neighbourhoods of major cities; which also happen to be the types of places where many of the ex-combatants settle after demobilising. These criminal elements, including urban wings of paramilitary groups, pay three to five times the amount of the monthly government stipend to those who work as hired guns. The money is often sufficient temptation for those with the experience and know-how necessary for this type of work. After meeting dozens of ex-combatants and hearing them tell their stories, it became apparent that the existence of these new armed groups and the temptation they represent to the demobilised ex-combatants presents a significant challenge to the success of the government's programme and to the prospect of peace as proposed by the current policies. The government's efforts may be diminishing the FARC's numbers, but if a significant number of those who leave the group end up taking up arms to fight for other illegal armed groups, then the war will perhaps mutate and persist. The names of the groups doing the fighting may change though the profile of the individual combatants remains essentially the same. For the most part, they are poor and frustrated people to whom joining in the fighting represents a means of survival. As is usually the case with people from the countryside anywhere in the world, the ex-combatants we came in contact with were all very hospitable, humble, friendly, respectful and accommodating. At first it was startling to recall that the people who had invited us into their homes and offered us their food had a few months or years ago been carrying out unthinkable acts in the jungle. We soon realised though that they are tired of fighting and are now doing their best to leave their violent pasts behind. All of the former FARC combatants we met including Julio came from rural poverty. Julio first joined the FARC as a miliciano or plain-clothed, unarmed helper, when he was eleven or twelve years old. He was an orphan and had been forced to work in the fields as a young boy. To him, the well dressed, well-armed FARC soldiers commanded respect. Furthermore, they stood for political ideals that directly reflected the injustices he lived as a peasant from the countryside. He soon became dedicated to the organisation and was convinced that the FARC would topple the powers that be and establish a new and more just government in Colombia. But after nearly two decades with the organisation and changing personal circumstances, Julio decided to defect. He moved to Bogota with his wife and son and has since been doing his best to make ends meet; though it has not been easy. Although he has given up on the FARC's revolution, he still remains politically committed to social change and progress for Colombia's poor. He has had to put his political ideals aside to some degree however in order to address the more pressing issue of his family's wellbeing. Julio is charming and charismatic. In the FARC he rose to the rank of commander and in civilian life he has attracted countless friends and comrades. He is currently organising a committee of ex-combatants in his neighbourhood which he hopes will, among their other objectives, help prevent the demobilised from falling back into the war. The idea is to pool resources, improve relations with the community and establish solidarity and camaraderie amongst the demobilised in order to improve their situation. For the government, the success of the demobilisation programme is seen as a vital strategic step in putting an end to a gruesome war that has gone on for nearly half a century. But for the FARC's former combatants, most of whom have endured hardship and turmoil all their lives, the government's programme offers an opportunity to start anew and pursue something they have never known: a peaceful life. If they are to achieve this goal, however, they must be personally committed to peace in order to resist the ever-present possibility of reverting back to a life of violence. A film by Manuel Contreras and Russ Finkelstein

Endgame – Embedded with US 4th Infantry Division in Kandahar

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:06:28 +0000

Filmmaker John D McHugh was embedded with units from the US 4th infantry division in the city of Kandahar and the surrounding region, he describes the progress he witnessed while he was in Afghanistan.

Blood and Dust (2011) [Review]

Oliver Stangl — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:41:53 +0000

Vaughan Smith is a fearless director who already filmed several military embeds – when he filmed a Serbian military action in the 90’s a bullett lodged in his cell phone. His latest work took him to Afghanistan. In Blood and Dust he shows the other side of the war – the human side. And in the case of a war this means suffering. Blood and Dusts length is only about 25 minutes, but those 25 minutes are extremely intense and the title is quite literal. Sometimes the dust of the rough Afghan landscape is so heavy that one can hardly see what’s going on on screen; and when you can see what’s going on you see wounded soldiers and the exhausted faces of their comrades. Smith, who also founded the Frontline Club, an instituition to advance independent journalism and who also gave refuge to Julian Assange some months ago, spent ten days with paramedics of the US Army’s 214th Aviation Regiment and created a film that takes an unadorned look at the ugly side of war. In interviews the doctors and soldiers talk about their feelings and the uncertainty of their work. They never know what the next call is going to be, how hard it is going to be. Smith’s camera is always close to the medics, even in the most dangerous situations. Here one can see what war really is. One can imagine that many of the men think about quitting but in the end all comes down to the Aviation Regiment’s motto: „Striving to save lives.“ documentary.net says: If you are interested in war footage that is not shown on the news, this is a film for you. Watch this film

Blood and Dust

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:20:35 +0000

Award-winning filmmaker Vaughan Smith spent 10 days with a US Medevac helicopter unit in Afghanistan.