"Act of Valor" Review

As noted the other week, I was invited to attend a special sneak preview of Act of Valor, which will be released for general audiences on February 17 of next year.  Although I really enjoyed the movie, a busy schedule with the day job and an untimely case of writer’s block prevented me from putting my thoughts down on paper (or on bytes . . . whatever).  Then this weekend I took my five-year old to see The Muppets.  Although the movies are polar opposites, noticing which gags nearly sent him out of his chair in convulsions of laughter and which jokes were too self-referential for anybody under thirty to understand, the light bulb went off as to what worked and what didn’t in Act of Valor -- and how to do the latter film justice.

The movie has already attracted a good deal of attention because of its gimmick of casting active duty Navy SEALs as the film’s heroes and its unabashedly kick-ass trailer. (Act of Valor, that is, not The Muppets, although the latter does involve a scene where Miss Piggy et al don ninja-gear to abduct a Hollywood star).  Act of Valor follows “Bandito” Platoon of the fictional SEAL Team 7 as it conducts a hostage rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative in Central America, during which they recover a cell phone that leads them to a wanted arms dealer/smuggler.  The subsequent manhunt uncovers a plan for a terrorist attack intended to rival 9/11, and as the intelligence puzzle is put together, “Bandito” platoon is forced to race against the clock in a series of missions on the high seas, Somalia, and finally in a climactic subterranean shootout on the U.S.-Mexico border.

As I watched the movie, I tried to imagine how critics would react to it as opposed to the members of the Special Operations community and guests who comprised the D.C. audience.  I think critics will point out that none of the SEALs are likely to challenge Leonardo DiCaprio or George Clooney for Best Actor at next year’s Oscars.  Apart from the action sequences – in which the SEALs utilize real-life tactics they have rehearsed and executed countless times – the acting is slightly wooden . . . although no worse than Ashton Kutcher anytime he tries to play anything other than a dumb guy. 

Critics will also likely bemoan the relative lack of character development.  Although two early scenes quickly introduce Bandito’s SEALs and establish that they have families they must leave behind (and especially that the team leader’s wife is pregnant with their first child), the team members are virtually indistinguishable throughout the rest of the film, so much so that only three of the eight SEALs are identifiable.  This may keep some critics/viewers from feeling invested in the fate of the characters, yet for anybody who has deployed in the last decade -- or for the family and spouses of those service members -- these brief scenes will resonate deeply.  (Full disclosure: I deployed to Iraq when the aforementioned five-year old was ten days old, so the scene with the team leader leaving his pregnant wife struck a personal chord . . . and I think somebody was peeling onions somewhere in the theater).

These shortcomings aside, Act of Valor works, and works well.  At heart, it is neither an action movie nor a war movie, per se, but rather a battle movie in the vein of Zulu or Black Hawk Down.  The characters' back stories or how the central conflict (in this case, the broader War on Terror) emerged are secondary to the immediacy of the bullets flying around them.  And once those bullets start flying, Act of Valor excels. 

The action sequences are exhilarating and gorgeously shot.  The camera films the action from relatively unique perspectives and angles, which provide the audience with a visceral sense of immediacy.  This is not surprising given the background of directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh in filming action sports, the aesthetic of which conveys well to the firefights and raids Bandito platoon conducts.  The movie was originally conceived as a promotional documentary for the SEALs, and the adrenaline rush experienced during the battle sequences was comparable to the Paris Island scenes of Full Metal Jacket on the big screen.  (Well, at least up until that whole demented murder-suicide thing).  They are fast-paced and riveting without seeming contrived or melodramatic. 

Act of Valor’s production team obviously placed significant emphasis on conveying as much realism as possible within the confines of a two-hour narrative, and (as far as I can tell) achieved this successfully. In fact, from an analytical perspective, I only had a few technical criticisms.  I think some brief, early montage illustrating the difficulty of the BUD/S course -- which typically has dropout rates of over 90% -- would have been more effective than the film’s opening exposition in establishing how extraordinary the men of Bandito platoon (and all real-life SEALs) are.  (Although, granted, the opening soliloquy is lump-in-the-throat chill).  The movie may also have benefitted from slowing down the action a bit, as is so rapidly paced that the raids almost bleed into one another, leaving the viewer breathless.  A slightly more detailed depiction of the planning and rehearsals that are the hallmark of “Tier One” SOF units – which is a large reason for their deadly efficiency – would have given the audience a chance to reset after each mission.  Finally, one could quibble about whether it is realistic that the same SEAL team would conduct missions over such a widely dispersed geographic area rather than passing the intel on to another team, or whether the Mexican cartels would really help Islamic extremists conduct another 9/11 (and hence paint an extremely large target on themselves), but such simplifications were clearly necessary to drive the plot forward.   

Ultimately, these critiques are akin to complaining that Elrond delivers the sword Anduril to Aragorn in the cinematic version of Return of the King rather than his fellow Rangers as in the novel . .  . either way, the movie still rocks.  Act of Valor is highly entertaining and lives up to the promise suggested by its thrilling promotional campaign.  Moreover, it is a much-needed break from Hollywood’s unbearably patronizing treatment of the U.S. military since 9/11, in which U.S. troops are alternately depicted as either marauders or as victims instead of heroes.  Although a work of fiction, Act of Valor is an exciting stand-in for the innumerable stories of real-life courage and sacrifice that have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade but will never make it to the big screen.

"Wanted Dead or Alive" on C-Span Tonight!

In case you find yourself getting annoyed by your family or in-laws tonight, you can always excuse yourself at 6PM EST and say you need to watch the re-airing of my book talk on C-Span's Book TV.  (Lord knows I'm going to try this trick myself . . .)

Whether you are able to watch or will have already slipped into a tryptophane induced coma, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today in Manhunting History -- November 24, 1885: Josannie's Raid

As historian Robert Utley summarized the first six months of the Geronimo Campaign: “The Sierra Madre campaign of 1885 was an exhausting and profitless struggle against heat, insects, hunger, thirst, and fatigue.” General George Crook had nothing to show for his troops’ exertions, and decided to give them some much needed rest and to prepare for a more extended campaign in Mexico than originally anticipated. In October he summoned Captain Emmet Crawford and Major Wirt Davis back to Fort Bowie to refit and prepare for another assault on the Sierra Madres.

The Army resupplied by making purchases. The Apaches resupplied by making raids. By November 1885, the fugitives were woefully short of cartridges for their Winchester and Springfield rifles, ammunition that could not be found in Mexico. Moreover, the poverty stricken Mexican peasants in Sonora had little left to steal. Thus, in early November Josannie, Chihuahua's brother and a war leader who had once served as an Army scout, reentered the United States and began a raid in the Florida Mountains of New Mexico with 10-12 warriors. The raiders killed three scouts and two civilians before seeming to disappear across the border. A semblance of tranquility began to return to the Territory after three weeks of silence. Then on November 23, the officer in charge of Fort Apache, Lieutenant James Lockett, reported to Crook that hostiles had been seen within four miles of the outpost. He stated that was going in pursuit.

Then the telegraph went dead.

Crook waited impatiently for reports, yet when they arrived, they reported disaster. On November 24 Josannie’s war party killed two civilians who managed the reservation’s beef herd. Their wrath next fell upon the reservation itself, where they killed 20 White Mountain Apaches, sparing only the women and children, whom they abducted.

[And yes, I recognize this post doesn't necessarily fit with the spirit of Thanksgiving.  Sorry, I can't help the date.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!]

Josannie, an Apache war captain in Geronimo's renegade band.

Bill Roggio Begs to Differ . . .

. . . with The Washington Post piece noted below.  Over at the invaluable Long War Journal, Roggio offers a list of 26 al-Qa'ida leaders reported to be living in Pakistan.  Roggio's point is well-taken -- although I think he stretches the list out a bit by including Sa'ad bin Laden (reportedly but not confirmed killed) and Saif al Adel (as frequently reported to be in Iran as Pakistan) -- especially his argument that for political reasons Administrations tend to overstate progress against al-Qa'ida and ignore its ability to regenerate by promotion from within the ranks. 

However, the Post article can be reconciled with Roggio's dissent if Zawahiri and al-Libi are truly indispensable to the network's survival, which right or wrong is what the article implies. Roggio would surely disagree, but if the Post (or whomever their source is) were correct, then the article would not be at all ridiculous despite the presence of numerous al-Qa'ida operatives in Pakistan.

Drones Running Out of Targets?

The Washington Post reported yesterday that the leadership ranks of al-Qa'ida have been so diminished that there are now only two "high-value" targets remaining in Pakistan: Ayman al-Zawahiri, and his deputy, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

To be clear: there are still scores of mid-to-low-level al Qa'ida operatives to target, as well as fighters/leaders from other extremist groups in the Tribal Areas (i.e. Haqqani Network leaders); other branches of al-Qa'ida now pose equal if not greater threats to U.S. security; and the terror network has shown the ability to regenerate in the past if given breathing room.

But it is still interesting to even consider the possibility that the network's base could be "defeated," or that the geographic focus of the war against al-Qa'ida could shift away from the traditional theater of operations in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

And then there were two: al-Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and his second-in-command, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

"Obama Takes on the LRA"

An informed -- and interestingly cynical -- take in Foreign Affairs.com on the Obama administration's decision to deploy U.S. troops to assist in capturing or killing Joseph Kony, commander of the Lord's Resistance Army. 

The authors are somewhat optimistic from an operational standpoint, claiming "The U.S. military has gathered strong evidence about Kony's whereabouts in the last few months.  Greater numbers of surveillance flights over LRA-afflicted areas are said to have pinpointed Kony's position in teh Central African Republic."

However, they are skeptical about whether apprehending Kony will make any strategic difference in Central Africa, noting: "The LRA is, in fact, a relatively small player in all of this -- as much a symtom as a cause of the endemic violence.  If Kony is removed, LRA fighters will join other groups or act independently."

Today in Manhunting History -- November 19, 1865: Frederick Funston's Birthday

Of all the fascinating military figures I encountered while researching Wanted Dead or Alive, my personal favorite was Frederick Funston, the 5'4" 120-pound general who in 1901 lead a daring mission 100 miles behind enemy lines to capture Filipino insurgent leader General Emilio Aguinaldo.

On this day in 1865 in New Carlisle, Ohio, Funston was born to an artilleryman in the Union Army who after the war moved the family to Kansas and eventually was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. When Funston graduated from high school he tried to follow in his father’s footsteps by entering the military, but was denied an appointment to West Point because of poor grades, a weak competitive exam score, and his height. He subsequently enrolled at Kansas State University, but after two desultory years dropped out and took jobs as a court reporter for a West Arkansas newspaper and a ticket collector on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railway. In 1890 he passed a civil service examination and became a botanist serving on expeditions to such forbidding locations as the just-pacified Bad Lands, the hellish Death Valley, and the frigid Yukon territory, where he completed a 1,400 mile solo trip down the Yukon River.

Funston was in New York City trying to sell rights to a memoir of his adventures, when out of curiosity on a spring evening in 1896 he followed a crowd into Madison Square Garden. There, he found a political rally in progress promoting the cause of the Cuban Revolution against Spain, with the former Union General Daniel E. Sickles the featured speaker. The event implanted martial images in Funston’s mind that kept him awake with excitement, and before dawn arrived the next morning he had decided to volunteer for his first war. During a visit to the Cuban junta, the Cubans said they particularly needed artillery officers. Although Funston’s experience with artillery was limited to once “having seen a salute fired to President Hayes at a county fair in Kansas,” he signed on with that designation and proceeded to teach himself the art of gunnery with a Hotchkiss twelve-pounder he found at an arms dealer. Thus, knowing no conversational Spanish and lacking any formal military training, Funston became an artillery officer in the Cuban insurrecto army.

Over the course of a year’s fighting in 1897, he was shot or hit by shrapnel three times – including a Mauser bullet that passed through both lungs in June – and had his horse shot out from underneath him on another occasion that crushed his legs and impaled his thigh upon a dry stick. In addition to the persistent hunger he shared with his revolutionary comrades, Funston contracted malaria and was subject to periodic fevers and chills, and contracted typhoid fever during one of his many hospital confinements. On 12 December 1897, while about to go on leave, Funston was captured by a Spanish patrol. Looking directly into the barrel of Spanish rifles, knowing he could be shot at any moment, Funston quickly invented a story about how he was actually deserting from the insurrecto army and had been looking for Spaniards to whom he could surrender. As he spun his tale, he subtly slid his hand in to his pocket, placed the incriminating leave papers in his handkerchief, pulled the handkerchief out to swab the perspiration on his face, and managed to slip the papers into his mouth and swallow them without being noticed. The Spaniards subsequently conveyed Funston to Havana, where he was soon placed upon the first available ship for New York.

To the average man, the series of wounds and diseases Funston suffered in Cuba would be enough to dissuade them from ever again volunteering for war in a tropical climate. But such was Funston’s passion for adventure – and perhaps his sense of invulnerability – that when the Spanish-American War erupted the following spring he leaped at the opportunity to serve as the colonel of the 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, one of three regiments the Jayhawk State was raising in response to President McKinley’s call for 125,000 volunteers to augment the meager regular army. While training his regiment and awaiting deployment in San Francisco, Funston undertook what may have been his most daring venture yet – in two weeks he met, wooed, and proposed to Ms. Eda Blankart. They were married on October 25, 1898. Two days later, Colonel Funston left his bride and sailed with the second and third battalions of the 20th Kansas on the transport Indiana, bound for Manila.

Frederick Funston, 5'4", 120 pounds, in the uniform of the 20th Kansas

The bantam colonel quickly made a name for himself for his personal courage and aggressive tactics. Funston’s Kansans were always in the lead of the American offensives. During the fighting of 5 February 1899, Funston led his regiment up the coast so swiftly that he came under fire from the U.S.S. Charleston and had to stop. “There goes Kansas,” exclaimed General Arthur MacArthur as the regiment swarmed, yelling and shooting, toward Caloocan during 1899’s spring campaign, “and all Hell can’t stop here.” MacArthur wired back to headquarters: “CALOOCAN TAKEN. KANSAS A MILE IN ADVANCE OF THE LINE. WILL STOP THEM IF I CAN.”



On 27 April, 1899, MacArthur and General Lloyd Wheaton’s combined brigades found themselves halted at the banks of the Rio Grande de la Pampanga by a formidable entrenchment of 4,000 Filipinos backed by artillery and a Maxim machine gun. The only way of establishing a beachhead on the enemy bank seemed to be by a combined artillery assault to cover the activities of a small unit in the river. After two Kansas privates swam across with a long coil of rope, Funston personally took seven men across on the a raft and, ordering the rest of his troops across in stages, he dashed with a half-dozen men into the trenches. “I realized perfectly well that according to the rules of the game a colonel should not leave the bulk of his regiment on one side of a stream and accompany a detachment smaller than a company in size,” Funston recalled, but he “knew mighty well that if I should send a small force across and sacrifice it I would be damned in my home State all the rest of my life, and held up to scorn by all the corner-grocery tacticians in the country.”

Although they only found dead and wounded Filipinos remaining in the trenches, they soon came under fire from the Filipino Maxim gun positioned across a stream 300 yards a way. An American soldier yelled out, “It’s the Maxim – we’re goners,” only to receive a kick from Funston, who told him to be quiet. Funston stood up, saw that the gun was beneath a railroad culvert, and ordered his prone men to rise. “Under that culvert, rapid fire,” he yelled, and the gun was silenced. Funston was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his part in the crossing of the Rio Grande.

When the war devolved into a grinding counterinsurgency campaign, Funston was given command of the Fourth District of the army's Department of Northern Luzon, where because of his previous experience as an insurgent, he was one of the army's more effective counterinsurgency commanders.  He was still serving in this position on February 4, 1901, when news arrived that a courier bearing dispatches from Aguinaldo had been captured. But that is another story . . .