Green Berets Breakdown The Most Important Scene in Lone Survivor | Green Beret 

Option 4: take them with you and shove them off the first cliff you come to. No 5.56 stuck in their head and who knows; they could've just slipped.

Incredible how, in this age of miraculous technology, it's still possible to basically get beat by a terrain feature.

A loss-loss scenario that I agree is definitely the most important scene in the movie. Well said, gentlemen.

A false summit, also known as a false peak, is a term used to describe a point on the trail that appears to be the mountain peak. However, once that peak has been reached, you realize there is another peak on the mountain higher than you. You couldn't actually see the real peak until you reached the false summit. 🤷🏻‍♂

Just from listening to the first 3 minutes makes me love the content that these guys put out. Very nuanced and comprehensive outlook on the complexities of war. A rare find.

They didn't think of option 4, tie each of them wrist to wrist together, make them a chain to slow them down getting back down the mountain.

According to the guy that saved Marcus, the Taliban already knew they were there because they heard the choppers drop them off. That’s how they got on them so fast. According to him.

#4 take them with you until you get comms

RIP to Murph, Danny and Axe, as well as the other guys in Red Wing as well as all other ops in all other branches. Fair winds and following seas.

Great video, guys! Yes, they were definitely in a no-win situation. It was a hard call, no matter what! Thank you for bringing up the points that you two did!

First off thank you for your service to our country and allied nations. Thank you for keeping our way of life safe. I wish you and your families all the best.

Happy new year dudes! 🎉 I really hope you'll eventually watch Triple 9! Dying to see how you critique the breaching/room clearing as you have experience on the Teams as well as in LEO and I want to see how well it was portrayed. Never seen anything that intense in Hollywood. Cheers from the 501st in Alaska, AATW! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

There was a 4th option - they could have detained them while they hiked out (i.e. bring them along for the hike), and then release them after they reached their rendezvous/exfiltration point (i.e. giving themselves a head start, etc.). I never understood why that option wasn't thought of/discussed.

Thank you for sharing 🤗🏆🙏🇺🇲

"Kodak Black..." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I dropped my phone laughing 🤣😂😂🤣

Here early it's always fun watching these guys they have such a good vibe some good men👍🏻👍🏻

Sometimes you only have two decisions, they are both bad, but you gotta take the better out of the two. Good stuff bros, keep on posting this kind of content!

I love your guys show Bro's!!!! And the fact that Sean's from my hometown is awesome!!!

I read a book about the SAS in the first Gulf War. The same exact thing happened to them, a kid goat herder ran across them. They let the kid go, he then proceeded to go alert the local Iraqi military. The only difference is most of the SAS survived and they killed a lot of Iraqi military on there way out of Iraq. I remember one incident they had stolen a car and were driving through a city, an unfortunate Iraqi police officer pulled them over. Yeah, don't pull over a car full of SAS.

Watched this with a group of SNCOs while overnighting at a MOUT site after prepping for an exercise, they all wanted to know what I would've picked (testing the O, as they do). Option 4: take them with you until you make comms, let them go once you hear birds inbound. Might take a little longer, but you maintain OPSEC without compromising Law of War and RoE. Maybe even better, displace to an easily defendable position with good observation and fields of fire, 2 stay with the detainees, 2 go establish comms and PZ, then the last two can turn the detainees lose and book it to the PZ. Analysis made in a vacuum (and based on a Hollywood presentation of events) is always suspect, so any number of factors might have precluded that plan, but that's what I came up with.

We used this for situational solution training we chose to take them with us to the summit, then let them go after making comms. Taking shoes etc to slow progress back to camp.

I hope that you read this 🙏🤞 I really enjoy your breakdowns and appreciate your knowledge, time and effort sharing this with us. Can you please do a breakdown for a film called "Last Full Measure"? It is in my opinion an amazing film about a para rescue that took place in Vietnam.

I thought you were gonna breakdown the scene again! 😂😂 I’m pretty sure it’s just the exact Scene for the breakdown of the whole movie a couple months ago. Which is fine

Finally someone who knows how shit works and is not an internet expert! Best review I have heard.

As a Marine with 2/3 during operation red wing, i was in the air when the 47 was shot down and the command and control of the whole thing was a freakin goat rope. Being told we couldn't do anything to support was heartbreaking.

I read the book by Marcus in November 2011 trying to kill time during my 2nd week in prison. The book was even better than the movie. That led me to read the book by Michael Durant, the chopper pilot that got shot down and captured in Black hawk down. Both books were very good, I couldn’t put them down.

Best option would have been to take them with them until later when they was able to radio in for pick up, or at the very least tie them up and have 2 people watch them while the other 2 went higher to call it in.

This is one of the questions in the SF psychological assessment we had in the 1980s.

Good breakdown 🐸🔱

I've always wondered how accurate this scene is to the real events, because only having 3 options seems like a red herring for the movie. There are many more things you could do if you think about it, and they didn't seem to be in a rush. My aim is not to speak ill of the fallen or be a back-seat-SEAL. If you want to exfil away from the enemy quickly you tie up the old man and the kid because they would slow you down. Take the teenager with you until you KNOW rescue is coming then you let him go do his mountain-goat shtick to alert the Tali AND he knows where to go to untie the old man and kid before nightfall. If you don't want to take any risks with people dying while tied up you could take them all with you until you make comms or at LEAST some of the way. Make the teenager's trip longer, buying a heftier lead in the footrace.

Radio seen in the movie was provided by the corporation that made it as the name was in redto show up. This model did not come this way but made to stand out. Its a program of record radio for tier two and supposedly not on the mission. They were using an alternate mode which is weaker but "tacticool" same as having a slingshot instead of a rifle. Also the antenna seen significantly lower gain. The alternate radio not certified for this mission but SOF sometimes says "who is going to stop me?. Later on CJCS stated satcom radios had to be 10 watts and certified. Also if terrain analysis pointed (pun intended) to look angles being hard to maintain, we should of had a certain model HF radio that works of of 20 feet of wire 24/7. The ethical dilemma we got trained on in the 90s was if we were allowed to finish off everyone after an ambush.

Damn to get screwed by misreading a false summit. I can’t imagine the sense of dread as they realized there was more mountain and no time.

I look up to these guys and respect them on the highest regards. Just playing with ideas but could they have tied them up, brought them to the next peak or where they could get comms and cut them loose when they confirmed extract was enroute? Or even hold them until extract arrived.

Could they 3 have been tied together? Causing them to just travel slower? Instead of the young man sprinting down to the village?

Awesome 😎

Hard men make hard choices! Can't truly say what my thoughts would have been, since I now have the inescapable benefit of hindsight.

To all those who suggest tie them up and take them to the exfil site. After reading Lone Survivor, one thing that doesnt translate as well in the movie is how steep the terrain was. It would have been incredibly difficult for them to drag/carry the goat herders out to the extraction point if they had tied them up. Imagine having full gear, and then having to carry someone tied up who is resisting up a very steep hill full of hazardous terrain elements. And they needed to move fast in case their location was already compromised(as may very well have been the case).

Please do a video on the gun you would like to have most in that scenario. caliber, optic, barrel length, suppressed?...

I had always thought about taking them with them, sure now you have to worry about three additional people and all the hazards they would face getting out. People always say they would never do my job in the military (submarines) but it is a cake walk compared to what our special forces have had to go through.

Question: would these operators have access to handcuffs or flex cuffs? If so, perhaps secure the old man and the boy together, they can walk, but it's going to be slow going, buying time, and making exfil. It's a grey area, for sure.

Hey Sean what are your thoughts on the ODA 525 recon team compromise during the first gulf War? Similar situation.

The way the tailban kids went down the mountain was very impressive.

This whole story has been proven to be greatly exaggerated. The Marines told them repeatedly to stay away from that area because there was no reason to send in a such a small element. 3 times they were warned and ignored them. There were 7-10 fighters, max. They heard the helicopter drop the team off, they found the fast rope which was ditched off the helicopter, which is a huge no-no. The fighters found the recon team very quickly, watched the interaction with SEALs and the goat herders and then ambushed them. The fire fight lasted no longer than 5 minutes. There is video shot by the Taliban and easily found. You can hear Murphy yelling for Marcus to come back. Marcus claimed he shot all 11 mags, had his face crushed and covered in lacerations, uncountable through and throughs and supposedly crawled miles on his elbows. Gulab, the man that found and hid Lutrell has a photo of Lutrell from when they were moving him from location to location. Lutrell has ZERO facial injuries, is standing up right and clearly does not have a broken back and is wearing his chest rig with a Texas flag patch on the front. It doesnt even look like a large chest rig capable of carrying 11 magazines. What happened was an inexperienced officer (Murphy) and his team decided to ignore Marines who had been in that area and told them to stay away. They get into trouble and cause the deaths of all those men on the QRF helicopter. There was ZERO reason for it. The target was NEVER a high value Taliban guy. He was a local no-body that was trying to get on the good side of the Taliban. There is no intelligence pointing that he was responsible for the IED's that killed Marines (as the movie suggests). ALL of this info has come from other SEALs, Army SF, Rangers and 160th guys who were there and refuse to stay quiet about it.

Wouldn’t another option have been to bring these three people with them to the rendezvous point with the helicopter? They may have been able to let them go after they were able to gain more separation from their camp.

Gallagher DID NOT get pardoned. He was ACQUITTED, Sean

this scene drove me nuts n i discussed with buddies.... ive thought of options that should exist but dont, below r more options, but u guys didnt discuss the other options??? i wouldnt have made this call but u make good points.

I have never been a soldier and I can't speak because I don't know anything about it, but interestingly 2 weeks ago I was watching an interview that a youtuber did to a [Delta Force Cag] The delta was active for 12 years, and the youtuber I ask him if the rules of engagement are the same in Tier 1 and Tier 2 and he said yes and no at the same time, then the youtuber asked him for an example to explain himself better, and the delta said that for example if they have to do a raid on a building and by chance before they raid the building, if by chance someone from another building sees them, who are preparing to assault that building, the delta said that in order not to compromise their main mission, They were allowed to shoot that person who is watching everything, so that person would not talk to the enemy, and in this way, Delta Force did not compromise their mission, and they could continue their mission.

Id focus on getting communications up first for exfil and half way to the pickup kick the baggage lose and hopefully be on the chopper before they managed to get back and raise the alarm

My option would have been to bind all of their hands together in a line. They can still move but the time it would take for them to reach the village would be very long. Give us way more time for evac just in case things didn't go as planned.

Wondering if you can do a reaction on triple 9. There is an interesting scene where the police use a shield to clear a apartment complex.

Option 3. Knife. No ballistics.

I've thought about this ...what about option 4? Take them with you to the hilltop and wait for a ride and backup, Then you let them go and walk back to where they came? They clearly know where they are and can easily navigate there way back home.

So i spent four years in infantry i never got to SOF or anything so we never had a situation. what would habe happened if they tied them up. I also like option four of detained them bring them with until comms are made

Love to know your thoughts on Mohamed Gulab's account of this, and the fact he claims EVERYONE heard their infil. The whole story hinges on this aspect of the mission, but there are a ton of holes in the entire story.

I have a question, the scenes when they go tumbling down rock faces and you hear their weapons smashing on the rocks, are the rifles and scopes built to take that level of abuse?

Why the choice to not take them up during exfile then release them ? I know hindsight is 20/20 but seems like an option

It would have been fairly simple given the situation as it was portrayed in the movie. You simply take the two with you to an alternate xfil and keep them until you’re extracted. They get released and you have witnesses (your ride) proving you let them live and terminated the OP because they comprised you. That being so simple, I’m going to assume it was a more complicated situation in the actual real life event as it unfolded.

Isnt it sop/ttp to establish comm asa u arrive? Too many missing info ex 30mins summit. Th movie shows comms prblems

Option four take the three with you to the top and then let them go as you hear the choppers coming . Option 5 three guys stayed behind with them and one guy goes to the top and calls in for the choppers and then they can let the three go and make it to the top as the choppers are arriving. I have watched Marcus Luttrell talk about this and these two options were never mentioned by him.

I’d like to see a beers and breakdown of john chapmans CMOH video

It’s a hard decision to make. But I’ve been in similar. I would’ve held on them until dark. Moved a few hundred miters away. Make sure that I had COMs in the air. We’ve been compromised so the mission is done. Locate it to a safer area.

I’m not sure but would it have been possible for them to take them with to the top of the hill and then let them go. Since their plan was to go to the summit. Take them up, radio, get an eta, when they physically see the helicopters in sight then let them go?

This should have been part of the OPORD, 3. Execution - Coordinating Instructions: -Abort criteria for the mission -Actions on soft compromise (Observation Post PACE plan) -Plan for handling POW's It does strike me as odd that a SOF unit did not plan for these events, and had to improvise

For future reference, nobody goes to jail for the rest of their life (unless they get killed in there). They go to prison for the rest of their life. The two are not interchangeable. Wouldn't the best answer have been to keep the kid with them until they got to the peak and then release him? Certainly adding another 30 minutes onto his walk wouldn't have significantly lowered his life expectancy, but it would have significantly increased theirs.

I started watching this vid but stopped to watch the movie. First off growing up my father's friends five of them, are where former green berets from Vietnam era. I loved being around them their stories etc. In my teens I joined civil air patrol but in my teens I started having seizures. My dream of being those guys I loved while growing up ended at age fifteen. This movie literally broke my heart, even though I didn't serve you are all still loved like a brother, and God knows I wish you all the best. We will see our heroes when we line up at the gates of heaven, they will be there saying about time your sorry ass made it ,.......... Thank you with all my heart

option 1: Tie' em up and take them with you far enough so when you free them it's a much longer hike back to their camp. option 2: tie them together so they have an extremely slow, difficult time getting back to camp.

I have a buddy who was in the 5th Group who was in the TOC when this all went down. He said the SEAL/s didn’t follow any of the contingency plans, and were the ones who messed it all up.

The movie misses a point that the book touches on, they kicked around the idea of detaining them but knew the herders would give up their position and the village would come looking for them that evening. Also, the Seals were “legally” able to terminate the compromise but knew the military wouldn’t back them up. This was also mentioned in the book.

Hindsight 20/20 but what if in that situation you keep them with you until you make comms ten release then when the birds get there?

There are so many amazing moments in The Lone Survivor. This is easily one of the hardest decision a service member could make in combat operations. Lol

what i really don't get in their action, is why they did'nt let the kid go, but with attached hands in the back and thin rope to the neck so he cannot brings his arms in front of him (lack of material? they did not knew?) so he would have been able to make his way down but wayyyy slower.... i recall reading that from viet prisoners (Japanese were also excellent in reducing your movements exactly to what they want, yet controlling the action you are still able to do)...

Good guys do hard things. Making a child quiet is very hard. Good luck everybody.

What if they had left the place in 2 formations. 2 of them would reach the top and call for support and the other 2 waited to realease the captives and then would get to the rest of them, by the time the help had arrived.

Considering what happen, I suppose tying them up would have been the best option

What about the third option of just leaving them there tied up?

Guys, that may be a stupid question, but could those shepherds be taken by Seals to the landing zone? Would that change anything?

Strange reaction - Yet in "Fury" you two had no issues with shooting a POW. ...would it have still been the "correct" decision had the TL been fully aware about the false summit? IMHO - (28 military years), I would have scrapped the mission and taken them with us until we confirmed our extraction, at which point, reased.

I would have taken them with me until my ride showed up then released them. But what really bugs me about that movie (not sure if it happened in real life never read the book) is when they turned around when the hit the false peak. Why not keep going in the opposite direction of danger???

I just ordered the book “Victory Point” by Ed Darack because I’ve read that Luttrell’s book contains some inaccuracies. Especially in regards to the number of Taliban fighters that the team faced. Supposedly, Marines familiar with the area of where the attack took place said the area wasn’t big enough to support a large group of Taliban fighters. And I’ve also read the Taliban heard the helicopters that inserted the SEAL team. A repelling rope was left behind, and the team wasn’t very hard for the Taliban to track down. They took the high ground, and ambushed the SEAL team. The Taliban had larger numbers and a much better tactical position. The SEAL team basically had no chance once the battle started. I’ve also read the Taliban watched from a distance while the goat herders’ encountered the SEAL team. God Bless Michael, Matt, Danny and their loved ones. And the rescue team which included SEALS and Army Soldiers in the helicopter that was shot down by the RPG that was fired by Taliban on the ground.

I never understood why they wouldn’t bring them to extraction point then release them as they were safely flying away. I don’t know though, maybe it would’ve been to slow or extraction was way to far to hike those guys with.

My thing is…. Why couldn’t the team just take them with them u til the reached the summit or where there exfil would be and then release them before the birds came and picked up the team?

I’ve been on recon missions as well, and the key is always not to be seen, tracked or followed. I never understood why they didn’t just bring the personnel with them to their extract point and than release them? They were all seasoned I just can’t get over that detail..or is this an inaccuracy by Hollywood?

Take their comms, hobble the animals, get a signal to base with a heads up...

I watched the movie because of this video; one of the most intense movies I've ever seen

Could they not take them with them and then when able to call for a helicopter just let them go once the helicopter arrives?

Woah....I always wondered what the old guy said. That is terrifying

I’d pick 2 or 4 which was taking them.

My initial reaction is, our humanity is what separates us from the animals. But, the good guys die more often than not. I would have tied them up. That gives them a chance. Wolves? Somebody would have followed up to see where they were if they herded goats there in the first place. Hindsight is 20-20. Marcus Luttrell spoke at a function in my hometown a few years ago. I assume he wishes they would have made a different decision at that point.

How can you tell which ones are V.C.?

Or they could take their shoes and most of their clothes, which would have slowed them down enough to increase the difference. Or, maybe even better, take them with you until they got comms, release them after extract

I think I would've tried to take them with up the mountain so they had further to run back, maybe tie up the old man and younger kid while I'll take the crazy kid up. He would either free them on his way back or I am sure the huge force chasing them would've freed them. Hindsight is 20/20 though

Yes I wish they took the goat hearders with them to make the call instead of letting them go.

If you guys were in this situation being spec ops guys what do you do?

Would it make sense to have 2 men sit and watch the kid and the other 2 go request support?

Option 4. Let them go but cable tie them all together by the wrists so they could only have moved as fast as the old man.

Once you've lost radio comms, you bug out and call it a day. Everyone returns home to their wives and kids(if any).

That terrain didn't offer any cliffs to toss the garbage off?

What would have been the legal implications handcuffing them to a tree and leaving them?

If we want to be the good guys we gotta lead by example.

I dont understand why they didn't tie them all together in a circle to make it super hard to get down the mountain fast giving them more time to hike out/ get comms