Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

As a brief sidebar, I haven't watched anything yet, but you mentioned Blackhawk Down. I actually got attached to the 2/22 of the 10th Mountain Division. That was one of the units commanded in Mogadishu by then-Captain Steele. While it wasn't the same guys, it has been my experience that units and their cultures do not change a whole lot. There were a ton of Rangers in that platoon, and I was attached to the Scouts. The one thing that was a consistent, common thread in every exercise I ran with them was that they were hard-core, hard charging infantrymen. Kick in doors, shoot what moves, hog tie what doesn't. Absolutely awesome soldiers, and kick-ass professional soldiers. Not much for finesse or rapport, but as someone in a movie once said - it's a broadsword, not a scalpel. I found it tough to work with from time to time because my job was to get information and build rapport and their aggressive audacity almost never sat well with villagers. All things considered, though, I didn't botch because I never once felt like security was too lax.

They were and still are to this day one of my very favorite units in the entire Army, both for their ability to overwhelm and succeed against a superior force and for their astonishing focus on the mission at hand. Tenacious, tenacious motherfuckers.