Schedule

A look at the U.S. Army from the threadbare Minute Men who confronted the Redcoats at Concord in 1775, through the War of 1812, the Mexican War, Civil War, and the Indian campaigns. We learn of America's tradition of not keeping huge conscripted standing armies, using instead citizen soldiers responding to crises. Made in cooperation with the U.S. Army, with access to their historians and battle archives, which are the oldest and most extensive of all of our armed services.

Small armored boats patrol Vietnam's rivers, while World War II-era battleships pound enemy positions. When the Vietnam War ends, the U.S. and Soviet Navies engage in an arms race of unprecedented size and cost. Thus begins a quarter-century of violent peace. Terrorist and rogue states around the world prompt a political decision to switch the Navy from a barrier force to an attack force. During Desert Storm, a mighty Navy sealift transports a complex military force to the battle zone and lends it firepower.

R. Lee Ermey returns to Afghanistan and Bagram Air Base devoted to the hard-charging Marines stationed there. The Gunny goes on foot patrol into the rural villages surrounding Kabul. With his armed Marine Corps escorts, he shows what it's like to gather intelligence and promote goodwill among the Afghanis. Next, Lee goes for a ride in the Ch-53 Super Stallion, gets a little trigger time on a helicopter gunship--the Cobra attack helicopter, and test drives the Marine Corps' newest heavy duty truck, the MTVR. Finally, Lee spends time with the lifeline for the Marines in Afghanistan, the Medical Corpsman, and finds out how they treat injuries on base and on the battlefield.

Host R. Lee Ermey takes viewers on a tour of the Marine Corps Training Command Center, a.k.a. 29 Palms. It's the largest Marine Corps base in the world and covers half-a-million acres of Southern California desert. The Gunny gives us a short course on 29 Palms' history before engaging in a training exercise called MOUT--Military Operations on Urban Terrain. In a "town" created in the desert to resemble an Iraqi neighborhood, Marines train in street-to-street fighting tactics. Next, he heads to the sea and mounts up on the Marine Corps' newest and most versatile assault vehicle--the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). And he answers a viewer email asking for a comparison between the Germans fighters and US Marines during World War I. We see both sides' gear and guns and learn how the Marines prevailed against German firepower in the bloody Battle of Belleau Wood--a victory that turned the tide of WWI and earned the Marines the nickname "Devil Dogs".

Not all hero ships were built for battle. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien served as a beacon of hope as it was one of many liberty ships that kept the supplies flowing. The ship miraculously survived the D-Day invasion, and is currently harbored in San Francisco, and participates in Fleet Weeks and cruises across the world.

A 2-hour docudrama depicting the 10 days prior to the Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944. Bad weather forced Eisenhower to cancel initial plans; Rommel went home for his wife's birthday; U.K. and U.S. paratroopers and commandos were briefed; and double agent Garbo sent his last deceptive messages to Germany. Based on David Stafford's book, we follow 10 ordinary lives over 10 extraordinary days. Interviews include a French Resistance fighter, British commandos and spies, and an U.S. paratrooper.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

R. Lee Ermey returns to Afghanistan and Bagram Air Base devoted to the hard-charging Marines stationed there. The Gunny goes on foot patrol into the rural villages surrounding Kabul. With his armed Marine Corps escorts, he shows what it's like to gather intelligence and promote goodwill among the Afghanis. Next, Lee goes for a ride in the Ch-53 Super Stallion, gets a little trigger time on a helicopter gunship--the Cobra attack helicopter, and test drives the Marine Corps' newest heavy duty truck, the MTVR. Finally, Lee spends time with the lifeline for the Marines in Afghanistan, the Medical Corpsman, and finds out how they treat injuries on base and on the battlefield.

Host R. Lee Ermey takes viewers on a tour of the Marine Corps Training Command Center, a.k.a. 29 Palms. It's the largest Marine Corps base in the world and covers half-a-million acres of Southern California desert. The Gunny gives us a short course on 29 Palms' history before engaging in a training exercise called MOUT--Military Operations on Urban Terrain. In a "town" created in the desert to resemble an Iraqi neighborhood, Marines train in street-to-street fighting tactics. Next, he heads to the sea and mounts up on the Marine Corps' newest and most versatile assault vehicle--the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). And he answers a viewer email asking for a comparison between the Germans fighters and US Marines during World War I. We see both sides' gear and guns and learn how the Marines prevailed against German firepower in the bloody Battle of Belleau Wood--a victory that turned the tide of WWI and earned the Marines the nickname "Devil Dogs".

Not all hero ships were built for battle. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien served as a beacon of hope as it was one of many liberty ships that kept the supplies flowing. The ship miraculously survived the D-Day invasion, and is currently harbored in San Francisco, and participates in Fleet Weeks and cruises across the world.

A 2-hour docudrama depicting the 10 days prior to the Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944. Bad weather forced Eisenhower to cancel initial plans; Rommel went home for his wife's birthday; U.K. and U.S. paratroopers and commandos were briefed; and double agent Garbo sent his last deceptive messages to Germany. Based on David Stafford's book, we follow 10 ordinary lives over 10 extraordinary days. Interviews include a French Resistance fighter, British commandos and spies, and an U.S. paratrooper.

A look at the U.S. Army from the threadbare Minute Men who confronted the Redcoats at Concord in 1775, through the War of 1812, the Mexican War, Civil War, and the Indian campaigns. We learn of America's tradition of not keeping huge conscripted standing armies, using instead citizen soldiers responding to crises. Made in cooperation with the U.S. Army, with access to their historians and battle archives, which are the oldest and most extensive of all of our armed services.

Small armored boats patrol Vietnam's rivers, while World War II-era battleships pound enemy positions. When the Vietnam War ends, the U.S. and Soviet Navies engage in an arms race of unprecedented size and cost. Thus begins a quarter-century of violent peace. Terrorist and rogue states around the world prompt a political decision to switch the Navy from a barrier force to an attack force. During Desert Storm, a mighty Navy sealift transports a complex military force to the battle zone and lends it firepower.

R. Lee Ermey returns to Afghanistan and Bagram Air Base devoted to the hard-charging Marines stationed there. The Gunny goes on foot patrol into the rural villages surrounding Kabul. With his armed Marine Corps escorts, he shows what it's like to gather intelligence and promote goodwill among the Afghanis. Next, Lee goes for a ride in the Ch-53 Super Stallion, gets a little trigger time on a helicopter gunship--the Cobra attack helicopter, and test drives the Marine Corps' newest heavy duty truck, the MTVR. Finally, Lee spends time with the lifeline for the Marines in Afghanistan, the Medical Corpsman, and finds out how they treat injuries on base and on the battlefield.

Host R. Lee Ermey takes viewers on a tour of the Marine Corps Training Command Center, a.k.a. 29 Palms. It's the largest Marine Corps base in the world and covers half-a-million acres of Southern California desert. The Gunny gives us a short course on 29 Palms' history before engaging in a training exercise called MOUT--Military Operations on Urban Terrain. In a "town" created in the desert to resemble an Iraqi neighborhood, Marines train in street-to-street fighting tactics. Next, he heads to the sea and mounts up on the Marine Corps' newest and most versatile assault vehicle--the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). And he answers a viewer email asking for a comparison between the Germans fighters and US Marines during World War I. We see both sides' gear and guns and learn how the Marines prevailed against German firepower in the bloody Battle of Belleau Wood--a victory that turned the tide of WWI and earned the Marines the nickname "Devil Dogs".

Not all hero ships were built for battle. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien served as a beacon of hope as it was one of many liberty ships that kept the supplies flowing. The ship miraculously survived the D-Day invasion, and is currently harbored in San Francisco, and participates in Fleet Weeks and cruises across the world.

A 2-hour docudrama depicting the 10 days prior to the Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944. Bad weather forced Eisenhower to cancel initial plans; Rommel went home for his wife's birthday; U.K. and U.S. paratroopers and commandos were briefed; and double agent Garbo sent his last deceptive messages to Germany. Based on David Stafford's book, we follow 10 ordinary lives over 10 extraordinary days. Interviews include a French Resistance fighter, British commandos and spies, and an U.S. paratrooper.

On May 8, 1846, Mexico and the United States met in battle at a place called Palo Alto, near Brownsville, deep in Southern Texas. The two countries had been anticipating war since the annexation of Texas in 1845. The future President, General Zachary Taylor led the Americans--among his officers, 51 future generals, including Ulysses S. Grant and George Meade. But for over 150 years, what really happened has remained obscure. The official contemporaneous sketches implied the battle ended in a draw. Yet by day's end, the Mexican army was in full retreat. Now, battlefield archaeology is working on the hidden story of Palo Alto. Archaeologists, forensic scientists, and historians join forces, and aided by tests at the US Army's Yuma Missile Proving Ground, are cracking this military mystery.

Hunter Ellis looks at the history of winter warfare--a tradition of fighting, surviving, and traveling in snow and ice that created commandos in Norway, Sweden, and Germany, and later, the U.S. 10th Mountain Division--and at the billion-dollar winter sports industry. Next, we see how gunsights make it possible for military and law enforcement snipers to do their jobs as we examine their gear and techniques. Then, we look at the first stealth fighters--gliders--and into their likely future in space.

The sound of jet combat reverberates above the tombs of the Pharaohs as the small Israeli Air Force delivers a knock-out punch to the Egyptians in the 1967 Six Day War. Fly in the Mirage III with the IAF's first jet ace Giora Romm as he chases down two MiG-17s over the Suez Canal at dusk. Be in the cockpit with 119 Squadron Commander and ace Ran Ronen as he flies into hostile Jordan for a top secret rendezvous--arranged by the Israeli Mossad, and later as he speeds deep into enemy territory for a bombing mission that ends up as a swirling dogfight directly over the Egyptian base. Witness the first combat engagement of the McDonnell Douglas F-15, and how Major Moshe Melnik draws first blood for the Eagle in the skies over Lebanon in 1979. Learn how the Israeli Air Force of today hones its capabilities with cutting edge technology that makes it the most feared opposition in the sky.

Contestants compete with the legendary longbow. A breakout performance gives one team immunity, while two competitors from the losing team face off on the William Tell challenge in which they'll have to hit a series of apples with a crossbow.

During WWII, the leaders of the U.S. military challenged themselves to create the most advanced supply system in the history of warfare. The servicemen who fought the supply war played a critical, and under-appreciated, role in achieving victory. Without them the Allied war machine would have ground to a halt. Peter Coyote narrates this compelling journey into WWII through the eyes of those who lived it, using color film and photographs unearthed from archives and personal collections.

Contestants are shocked to see two Top Shot champions return as honorary captains for the team challenge. Marksmen compete with a just-released, ultra modern assault rifle and tensions flare when a fight erupts between two competitors.