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{{quote|''"Wake up, Trombley. You're missing the invasion."''|Sgt. Brad "Iceman" Colbert}}
In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' reporter Evan Wright was embedded in the US Marine Corps' First Recon, for the onset of the War in Iraq. Over the next two months, he would have a firsthand view into the lives of some of the toughest men on the planet, the War on Terror, -- er -- Saddam Hussein, and [[Idiot Ball|the command decisions that put them where they
Marines will talk like Marines, complete with lots of jargon and realism. Some examples:
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{{quote|''"If something happens to me, I want my wife to know the truth. If they say we fought valiantly here, I want her to know we fought retarded."''|Sgt. Eric Kocher}}
This complete lack of political correctness in favor of realism is a major cause of criticism for both the book and series. Negative reactions tend to be [[Ripped from the Headlines|questioning of the material's
As this pertains to a military operation, expect a lot of military tropes.
See also: Michael Herr's book, "Dispatches", also by a Rolling Stone contributor about the [[Vietnam
----
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"He's shooting at scraps of metal."
[[Crowning Moment of Funny|Can you believe that fucking retard is in charge of people?]] }}
* [[Adaptation
* [[Autobiographical
* [[Battle
* [[Bash
* [[Berserk
** [[Bilingual
* [[Binocular
* [[Blatant
* [[Blood
* [[Boisterous
* [[Bunny Ears
{{quote|'''Colbert:''' Need I remind you that he is the best damn RTO in the business, as long as you keep him away from your uglier daughters and your smaller livestock.}}
* [[Casual Danger
* [[The Chains of
* [[Cold
** That might be a reference. There was a news interview on ''live national television'' around when this series was made where a sniper answered a reporter asking "What do you feel whe you shoot a terrorist?" by shrugging his shoulders and replying "Recoil"
** [[Even the Guys Want Him|Fruity
*** Rudy definitely qualifies for this trope, for the spotter in a sniper team is actually the better shot.
* [[Colonel
** Ferrando's competence is the most obvious example of what one could say is the 'theme' of [[Generation Kill]]; that no one man in a warzone has a full perspective of what's going on. The book notes that Ferrando had never been in combat before and that his previous billet was commander of the parade ground at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington DC, which he himself described as "the most ceremonial billet in the Corps." Considering this, he certainly could've done a lot ''worse,'' and some of the Marines who openly criticized his decisions during the time the book/series covers later learned of variables they weren't originally aware about that made those decisions more reasonable in hindsight.
* [[Cultured
* [[Cunning
* [[A Date with Rosie
* [[Dead Baby
* [[Dramatic Gun Cock]]: "Gentlemen, from now on we're gonna have to earn our stories."
* [[Drill Sergeant
* [[During the
* [[Dysfunction
* [[Elites Are More
* [[Even the Guys Want Him|"Even The Guys Love you, Fruity Rudy!"]]
* [[Executive
* [[Fake
* [[A Father to His
{{quote|'''Fick''': "Get ''the fuck'' out of here. And do not ever again mess with my platoon. (...) Fuck that. You can fuck with me all you want, but do not, I repeat, '''do not''' fuck with my men."}}
* [[Five-Man Band]]
** [[The
** [[The
** [[The Smart
** [[The Big
** [[The Chick]]: Evan "Scribe" Wright
** [[The Sixth
** [[Mentors|The
* [[Funny Background
** When Sergeant Major Sixta is reprimanding Pappy about his mustache the second time around, another Marine can be seen goosestepping in the background in a Nazi Salute, to mock Sixta, and to remind Pappy that the 'Hitler 'stache' that he wears falls within the grooming standard
** Random marines quoting [[The Big
** Manimal dropping a box of grenades, followed by a Marine yelling that "This is why we can't have nice things!"
** Rudy taking a run in full combat gear while Marines cheer him on, urging him to [["Join the Army," They Said|"slay that dragon"]].
* [[Gallows
* [[Glamorous Wartime
* [[Good-Looking
* [[Genghis
* [[Gratuitous Spanish]]: Actually Portuguese. Sgt. Baptista is a Brazilian immigrant and during times of stress he unconsciously starts radio chattering in his native tongue, which drives the other Marines crazy.
{{quote|'''Person:''' "Goddammit Baptista! How would he like it if I joined the ''Brazilian'' Marines and only spoke English?" }}
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** Subverted the first time Trombley kills someone. For a second, he ''looks'' like he's about to BSOD, but then:
{{quote|'''Trombley:''' [[Heroic Sociopath|"I got one. I got one! Saw his fuckin' knee explode!"]]}}
* [[Heroic
** Person's dependency on Ripped Fuel allows him to drive the humvee for days on end. It also makes him a manic motor-mouth that drives Colbert crazy but gives Evan Wright plenty of amusing material.
** We find out it was ''Lt. Fick'' himself who authorized Casey Kasem's [[For the Evulz|pointless
* [[Heroic Sociopath]]: A strangely literal case in the form of Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley, who joined the Marines specifically to shoot people, showed an unnatural desire to see the results of his kills even from a civilian boy he accidentally shot, and who said that combat was far less nerve-wracking to him than watching game shows at home.
{{quote|'''Person:''' "That's 'cause he's a psycho. But at least he's our psycho."}}
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]] - [[The Wire|
** Person needs [[Twilight|Emmet
* [[Hollywood
** All of the combat footage seems to be taken from real life tactics and methods, with the outlandish stuff actually occurring, such as Trombley exposing himself without regard for his own life to find a AAA gun trained on the humvee column, or Person getting out of his humvee in the middle of an ambush to yell at the various column drivers to back up and get out of the kill zone.
** The show possibly has tracer rounds used accurately, too; that is, the tracer rounds are only every couple of bullets, with rounds you can't see going out in-between them. Military fiction practically never gets this right.
** In Nathaniel Fick's own account of the invasion, ''[[One Bullet
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdaQHTWT_ZI "Always run in a serpentine fashion!"]
* [[Improbable Aiming
* [[I Just Shot Marvin in the
** In an interview, Wright confessed that he wasn't so much concerned about shooting a civilian as he was about causing all the Marines to shoot at something that wasn't a target (his potentially accidental gunshot setting off a full-fire from the rest of the platoon). Apparently he never even kept his finger near the trigger to avoid it.
** There's also the old man at the end of a refugee column who gets killed when a Marine fires off a 40mm smoke grenade to warn off a passing car, only for the grenade to ricochet off the pavement and into the back of his head so hard it looks worse than a gunshot wound.
*** In the book, Wright goes on to state "We got a report saying he was OK and he was last seen enjoying a meal. A marine says this probably means someone tossed an MRE at his corpse." In the series, Poke exclaims (in frustration) that "At least we gave him a happy meal before he died!"
* [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship
* [[Insufferable
* [[It Works Better with
{{quote|'''Lt. Fick''': We don't have anything to worry about. Captain America is using the [[What an Idiot!|wrong authorization codes and the wrong grid coordinates.]]}}
* [[Kicked
** ''Averted'' with Casey Kasem, who, after the events of the book and the series, was promoted into a leadership position, where he not only excelled, but earned the respect of the men who had once had nothing but disdain for him.
** Encino Man and Captain America were ORIGINALLY intelligence officers assigned to Combat leadership positions. For all intents and purposes, they were put back in their original duties.
* [[Loads and Loads of
* [[Meaningful
* [[The Medic]]: Navy Hospitalman Second Class Robert Timothy "Doc" Bryan.
* [[Military
** One thing not explained in the miniseries is FPF (when Delta is shooting on a village). Final Protective Fire is only supposed to be used when a Marine position is about to be overrun, and involves setting up a solid wall of ammunition. Hence why the rest of Recon thinks it's hilariously unnecessary.
* [[Miniserie[[Category:TV Series]]]
* [[Mistaken for
** There is one instance where they seem to avoid using [[N-Word
* [[Must Have
* [[The
** "Captain America" whose activities include hoarding Iraqi fallen goods, spazzing out on comms about being attacked by every little thing, abusing prisoners, demanding the Marines shoot something or someone at random, shooting at random people when in the convoy, and freaking out at the slightest problem.
** "Encino Man" whose claim to fame includes attempting to order an artillery fire mission in which his men were right in the way (called "Danger Close"), but failing to do so because he didn't have the right protocols, and generally being distressed whenever anyone questions his orders. He actually tries to court-martial a few subordinates after they demanded that he not call in the artillery strike. The book doesn't specifically mention what happened as a result, but Encino Man was eventually removed from duty for another unrelated incident. Lieutenant Fick made Captain at some point between OIF-1 and leaving the Corps, so it's likely that no one took Encino Man or Casey Kasem very seriously in the long run.
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{{quote|'''Cpl. Michael Stinetorf:''' "It was weird. In OIF-One I hated him. But as soon as he became our platoon sergeant, it was clear that tactically he knew his shit, he trained us really well, and he was definitely not afraid to fight. I really like the guy."}}
** In his own book, Nathan Fick explains why First Recon ended up with such incompetent officers. Recon is primarily intended to send small teams of highly-competent troops into enemy territory to perform recon missions. The company and battalion-level officers are primarily assigned to do organizational and logistics work, and were never really intended to command in the field. The enlisted Marines, NCOs, and platoon commanders are extremely well-trained and highly competent men who are supposed to operate mostly independently of battalion and company-level command. Thus, the book and series showcase what happens when you take a unit trained and organized for a specific mission and then use them for something completely different from their original purpose.
* [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished]]: Every time the more reasonable marines try to deal with [[The Neidermeyer|The
* [["Not Making This Up"
** In fact, they had to tone down some of the more bizarre shit that Captain America did. Yes, he was actually worse than what was portrayed in the mini series.
** Another notable example of excluding something on account of [[Reality Is Unrealistic]]; when {{spoiler|Pappy was shot in the foot}} and reported it by first referring to himself in the third person with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, Doc Bryan started laughing because it meant he was okay. The laughter part isn't in the mini-series, because Wright was worried the audience wouldn't quite understand why someone would laugh, given the situation. The miniseries also left out the fact that during the bridge ambush, while Colbert was calmly gunning down enemy troops, he was singing. Yes, in the middle of a giant ambush, Colbert was quietly ''singing to himself''. There is a ''reason'' they call him the "Iceman." <ref>''Sundown'' by Gordon Lightfoot, in case you were wondering.</ref>
** One of the scenes involving an ambush on the Marines' convoy by an Iraqi AA gun was criticized, as the gun being used in such an ambush supposedly should have killed the entire convoy. In fact, the ambush actually happened this way; Nathan Fick's own book ''[[One Bullet
* [[Obfuscating
** Turns out that Person was on Ripped Fuel (heavily laced with stimulants and technically banned in the Marine Corps) for the entire invasion, making him a weeeeee bit crazy. When they eventually settle in Baghdad and Person crashes from going cold turkey, Wright specifically points out that he's a completely different person, and even ''more'' competent.
** In the novel's new afterword after the HBO series, he was completely polite after the actors took him out to dinner... and then, shortly after they left, reverted to his old persona and called them pussies and morons for "getting PTSD from filming."<ref>The actors talked about how hard it was to readjust to civilian life after filming.</ref>
* [[Officer and a
* [[Power
* [[Pragmatic
* [[Ragtag Bunch of
* [[Rant-Inducing
** [[Oh Crap|He did]].
* [[Real Person
* [[Red
* [[Road
* [[Rousing Speech]]: Subverted.
{{quote|"Yo President! Is watchin'! Amerikee! Is watchin'! But more important! ''Godfather!'' Is watchin'. Make no mistake! THERE! WILL! BE! NO! FUCK! UPS!"
"It was the enemy who stole your food from you, and you should be really, really mad at them. Before we step off on this next mission, I'm reminding you of who your enemy is. The enemy." }}
* [[Running
{{quote|"You know that picture of Rolling Stone's girlfriend?"
"I think it's safe to say we all know her *intimately* at this point." }}
** Which Person later "pimped out" to someone in Bravo Three for some PEQ-4 Batteries before he got a chance to give it back to said reporter
* [[Semper
{{quote|'''Person:''' I hate that cheesy moto bullshit.
'''Person:''' You know what happens when you get out of the Marine Corps? You get your brains back. }}
* [[Sergeant Rock]]: Too many to count. Obvious choices are Sgt. Brad "Iceman" Colbert, Sgt. Eric Kocher and Sgt. Antonio "Poke" Espera. "Casey Kasem" would become this ''after'' the events of the novel/TV series.
* [[Southern-Fried
* [[Shaggy Dog
* [[Sherlock
* [[The Squad]]
* [[Tank
{{quote|'''Cpl. Josh Ray Person''' "Hey, reporter! If you lay with your cock against the ground when a tank goes by, it feels fuckin' great!"}}
* [[Third Person
* [[Those Two
** Wright specifically avoided naming the "incompetent" commanding officers in his book, specifically because he didn't think that most of them deserved the criticism that would be thrown their way for their actions.
* [[Throw It
* [[True
* [[The
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: Do ''not'' bring Charms candy into any Marine vehicle. It's ''bad luck''<ref> The book mentions an incident when Trombley quickly and surreptitiously eats a bag of Charms candy, telling the reporter not to tell anyone. Nothing bad happens</ref>.
* [[Worthy
{{quote|'''Espera''': ''(gestures to dead RPG soldier still holding his weapon)'' "Motherfucker died trying to get a round off. Combat ''discipline''."}}
* [[You Look
* [[You Need to Get Laid]]: Cpl. Person blames the entire war on this, claiming that the Iraqis wouldn't need Marines to come in and save them if they just had more sex.
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