We had this guy in my unit. Sgt Treadwell. He'd start firefights with inanimate objects in attempt of obtaining a combat action ribbon. His squad was nicknamed the Ghostbusters
And to this day it is rumored that McGraws treasure is still buried in the deserts of Iraq, waiting for it to be recovered by a wandering Second Lieutenant on field nav course.
I think the thing that stands about about Captain Mcgraw is that he wasn't a dickhead, he was just a flat out bad officer. He clearly cared or at least tried to care about the men under his command, and he honestly thought he was fostering a sense of fraternity with the soldiers under him. It's kinda sad to see a guy who genuinely tries but doesn't have the necessary skillsets to actually be good, so his intended good nature just comes across as whimsical and annoying.
@@Katuzzi I think he's trying to say that because Captain America had already been enlisted prior to 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq he already has the camaraderie with everyone and should therefore be more mature regarding the combat and the rules of war. Eric Kocher has talked about the difference between him in the USA and in Iraq. Basically he was a smart guy, but either due to stress or suddenly being thrust into a position of local power, he was both paranoid and commiting "morally questionable" actions. As far as I can tell, his original role was most likely a logistics officer of some kind, but he had the training and they needed people. Kocher says he was "overthinking", analysing different ways he could be killed in his current situation. A mind like that would be very good for logistics, not so good for combat. This of course lead to his war crimes. The looting is easy to explain, he saw something cool and wanted it. A few of his questionable targeting choices, reflected here by him shooting at random stuff or people who may be considered noncombatants is because of differences in interpreting the ROE (Rules of Engagement) and how there are grey areas in the ROE. His biggest crime was the attempting bayonetting of a POW, which would be incredibly bad for him. The show is taking some creative liberties there. In the show I believe he charges at a surrendering soldier, with his bayonet being stopped by a vest or something. According to Kocher, in reality he was poking the POWs with his bayonet and talking to them about Chechnya among other things, which is what got Kocher and a few others reported by the reservists who were attached with them. I don't know how old Captain America was at the time, but Kocher was only 23, so I can empathise with his stress. Kocher was cleared, but it's still a stressful thing to have thrust upon you regardless, especially when you're only a bystander. I think that if Kocher can forgive Captain America, as he says "if you met the guy today, you'd probably like him", it's okay to let bygones be bygones. Captain America's uncle was a colonel in CENTCOM, which probably explains why he was given leeway while overseas, however his general competence before and after Iraq while his was working in the USA in his role at a desk says to me that he is probably someone who just wasn't used right by his superiors. bigthink.com/videos/eric-kocher-on-generation-kill/
Yeah, seems a classic "wrong place - wrong guy" screwup. I get this horrible feeling watching poor Capt. Mcgraw, he's trying so hard, and failing so badly. I feel embarassed.
He probably should have been a staff officer, or some other place where his a man of his temperament can be put to better use. Just not leading troops in battle.
I always found the part where "Captain America" buries his AKs a bit more nuanced that it may have been intended to come off. Notice how he doesn't complain about being talked to like that by a subordinate, he doesn't make threats to him, instead he quietly goes and buries his AKs. The upset look on his face could possibly be taken to mean that he's upset about having to get rid of the rifles, but maybe he's upset that he made his subordinates feel that unsafe.
I felt that way about the last scene with LT. Fick. Like he was subtly telling him he had no experience in leading Marines combat and is unprepared for the responsibilities that entails.
Then again, he demotes Kocher and Redman to mechanic pool at the end of the show. All because he has an uncle in a higher position. Seems like a nepotism posting, really. Dude was apparently a good Intelligence officer, should have remained there. Combat officers are a different breed. Like Fick and Patterson...
It’s so easy to hate him whilst watching this but you do pity him in that scene. The pain of realising that his subordinates hate and distrust him and that he’s completely incompetent at what he trained to do thinking he was doing fine.
McGraw is very lucky that Iraqi Freedom was a relatively quick and bloodless war. This guy was a war crime waiting to happen if the men had real reasons to despise the enemy.
It wasn't really that bloodless to say the least. Sure if you compare to WWII where the US had to fight on multiple fronts at the same time then yes. The bloodloss for Op Iraqi Freedom vs WWII is minuscule but the real bloodshed of Op Iraqi Freedom isn't the actual operation itself but the aftermath. Especially the fight to lodge Saddam and Ba'ath loyalist like the Republican Guards out of towns and stuff is where the actual bloodbath often happens.
that is very funny, is that from a movie? surly you woulnt just quote something that we all heard and laughed to, trying to grab some egopoints thinking your original and funny
We had a guy just like this in our company. He was universally hated amongst all enlisted, NCO's, CO's and senior officers. And just like him, he never had a clue how much people despised him.
When I was a corporal, we had a Captain like this guy. On a deployment I straight up told him that all of us fucking hate him because he's a fucking dork, and we take our orders from the First Sergeant over him. Why? Because he asked. He asked a corporal "What do the Marines think of me, Corporal?" Surprisingly, I never heard anything about it.
"Belt fed" is the way of loading ammunition onto big guns (like M249, M2N PKM And others) it is also known for being unreliable at times and i think that might be what the guy (Brad) is referencing @S7yx0
Apparently this TV series (and, by extension, "Captain America") is famous enough that when I said "fucking Captain America" after someone said "god speed" in a World of Warships session, EVERYONE knew what I was talking about.
@Kkkk Bbbb I just found out that somebody thinks of my silly offhand comment made 3 years ago as enough of a big deal to be made into a clout-chasing conspiracy 🤣
I’ve known officers that think they knew more then us enlisted, so when they tried to “enlighten” us their “leadership” we often say “Yes sir. You’re our DIVO, sir” in that same tone
According to Eric kocher, captain America was too smart for his own good. He would over analyze situations and would focus on the different ways it could go wrong and because of this would panic.
I honestly can relate to that, decision paralysis is a real thing and over analyzing a problem is a great way to make it much worse than it needs to be.
As an average civilian even Cap is hilarious and by military standards putting everyone at risk, kinda feel a tiny sadness for him. Guy probably joined to fight for the country without knowing how high strung or panicky he can be. And probably as he says in the end, he might be thinking everyone is insane and that he is the calm guy. Poor fella. I hope nothing bad came to him
Hell with that. If he cared about his country, he wouldn't stay in a position whose responsibilities he obviously can't fulfill. He's in it for personal glory, even if it means endangering everyone around him.
Your comment is three years old but anyways: McGraw (Captain America) was actually a competent officer....stateside. Once he arrived in Iraq, he just broke down. His "Captain America" persona is nothing like he was in the past.
My favorite gen kill moment with captain America was when they're checking combatants on the ground from the previous night's raid and upon hearing that there is one still alive, captain America orders him to be shot. Which, so far as I understand, is a serious war crime.
I have had a couple of officers (USN) that we honestly wondered why they were allowed to wander around loose. We had one we actually petitioned a CPO to not let him out on deck unescorted lest he 'fall' overboard at night! "movement RIGHT, nine o'clock!!!" so numbnuts called for a position 180 to where he just called movement report!
@@tinycockjock1967 Tin can sailor, plane guard one night out of five, Radar picket (supposed to be on week out of four (in reality five weeks straight), UNREP (under way replenishment at LEAST twice a week, VERTREP (Vertical Replenishment (helicopter bringing in groceries about every other UNREP) NOPE wouldn't know anything about that. Changing role every DAY... why wait so long? Most day we would perform one of our Destroyers 'Roles' about every THREE HOURS!! WELCOME TO THE TIN CAN NAVY! Instead, we had Mister O'Reagan (who had a thing about knowing where the carrier is at all times. We were coming out of the Gulf and doing a 'changeover' (one Carrier Battle Group for another). Mister O'Reagan is losing it being nervous that the carrier might do something and hit us (there were two carriers in THAT HEMISPHERE at that time and BOTH WERE IN VIEW (though both at LEAST 10 miles away). And he would be out there at least every THREE MINUTES lest three lookouts (whom were wrapping up a five month long deployment stand three watches a day EVERY day for FIVE MONTHS), three signalmen (who watched for flashing light/signal flag messages 24/7), along with 8 watch-standers on the bridge (with exactly the same view he had), AND at LEAST 5 radars, 10 radios, AND A watch section in the combat information center below his feet!, MISS SOMETHING. Now one of our senior lookouts (though junior NCO's) knew Mister O'Reagans 'thing' about knowing where the carrier was at all times (and knowing the bridge phone talker was a WORLD CLASS IDIOT (another 'how is this guys walking around unsupervised' type), As I walked by to rotate watch positions said, "ya'll watch this..." He then reported the carrier (there were TWO, NEITHER WITHIN TEN MILES OF US, AND MISTER O'REAGAN WAS LITERALLY STANDING NEXT TO ME (ON THE OTHER BRIDGE WING, I WAS STANDING STARBOARD LOOKOUT, HE PORT), when the bridge phone talker reported the carrier was TWO THOUSAND YARDS AWAY, TURNING ON A COURSE TO RAM!!! (two thousand yards is ONE NAUTICAL MILE!!!!) The idiot bridge phone talker (being a moron) repeated the alert (I could see ONE of TWO CARRIERS ON THAT HALF OF THE PLANET WITH MY BARE EYES AT LEAST TEN MILES AWAY GOING THE OTHER DIRECTION WITHOUT MY BINOS!). Mister O'Reagan drops his Binos to his chest runs into the bridge SPRINTS across the bridge at a FULL RUN, forgets to duck for the hatch and KNOCKS HIMSELF OUT!! SLIDING TO FEET OF THE OTHER (THE GUY WHO HAD MADE THAT CALL) LOOKOUT, ALSO OUT THERE WAS THE CAPTAIN (COMMANDING OFFICER) (WHO HAD NOT HEARD THE CALL, JUST SWIVELED HIS BRIDGE-WING CHAIR AND YELLED INTO THE PILOT-HOUSE TO HAVE THE DUTY CORPSMAN LAY TO THE BRIDGE ON THE DOUBLE!!! Fortunately, God does truly bless, fool, drunks, dumb animals, and little children (and most of us qualify on at least two accounts) because he was back a day later (though with a pretty good cut on his head!) ROFLMAO No I am NOT familiar with officers like Captain America (P.S. this is an old story, our skipper was USNA (football hero too), and has a tour in the land of bad things in river patrol boats! and seemed to think nearly 600 foot of Spruance class Destroyer was a PBR....
How someone like this got a college degree and then made it through OCS and was actually given command of a unit is beyond me. And it really gives me hope that my dumbass could still be an officer.
reminds me of that one time when my drill sergeant was talking about this one west point captain he hated so he took apart his rifle and dumped it in the porta potty
I am not in the army, and my situations was no where near as dangerous as being in the military. However I was kinda in a similar situation as captain America. It’s suggested in the book and the show that Cpt. America was never meant to be in combat. But for some reason his superiors moved him from a logistics office job to a high ranking position in combat. So the guy was basically put in a situation he never asked for or was fully prepared for. I went through a similar situation, and just like Cpt. America, I was humiliated. I was hired to be an assistant at a TV Network. It’s a high pressure job. But I’ve don’t it before and I’d done it well. On my first day there, they suddenly told me I’d be the technical director of the show. They probably did this so that they didn’t have to pay more for an experienced director. This was a wonderful opportunity, but I had no experience or prior training. For those of you who don’t know, this is kinda like promoting a cashier to the position of district manager. Or a private to general. I was very stressed and didn’t know what I was doing. I tried to be confident and in the end I just looked like a fool. I quit and found another job I was more prepared for. I was able to leave. Cpt. America had it worse because his situation was more dangerous and obviously inescapable. I hope he’s better today.
The real guy died a hero's death funnily enough saving his own men. It seems like through all of his "intelligence" he was a good soldier under all of it.
I believe the word is "Neurotic." If it makes you more thoughtful than sure, but if you're in charge you better do a damn good job of hiding it. Spilling your concerns with gusto over the comms like that turns you into a walking morale sink
We didn’t have anyone quite that bad while on deployment, but when we came home one of my best friends ended up pretty close to Captain America . He never killed anyone who wasn’t armed but the war really messed him up in his civilian life and he’s still messed up almost 15 years later . It’s really sad
I cannot count the number of times I listened to a long string of philosophical word salad from a superior officer, nodded and said “Yes Sir,” then walked away thinking “What the f-- was he talking about?”
Everybody in these comments saying “awww, I feel bad for him though” is fucking ridiculous. The guy ran around harassing innocent villagers and causing unnecessary destruction in an already pointless and destructive war. Dude was an asshole, straight up, at some point someone has to be accountable for their actions.
Could be that some parts had been thrown away, and I imagine the barrels would be bent plenty (at least for shooting at anything above a hundred meters) from that drop.
My dad was a airborn in Iran Iraq and they were issued G3s but everyone wanted AKs He told me that he found a AK under sand and he picked it up Wiped it and oild it and it worked
Generation Kill's representation of McGraw is actually very unfair and inaccurate. According to lieutenant Fick Cpt. McGraw was seen as a "genius" by officers who served with him. This is why Lt. Fick was defensive of the McGraw. Fick said that Mcgaw's tactical proficiency was high. Not to mention McGraw was a veteran of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It's likely that his personality and leadership was likely all derived from his service in Vietnam. Showing him as being a little "outdated" is fine but he was not a total moron.
The very same thing happens with Cpt Sobel in Band of Brothers. Most of his portrayals comes from Ambrose extremely biased and one sided book and Winters contempt.
so you are telling me that this platoon commander was in his late 40's or early 50's when the Iraq war broke out? Guy has 30+ years in and he's still only a platoon commander but he's a "genius"? BULLSHIT.
I spent 6 years in the Corps and left as a Sgt. They get a lot of things right in this show but It does a disservice to the Officer Corps. I never saw any officer act even remotely like Capt America, Godfather or Encino Man. Its TV folks... Tons of officers like LT Fick and Capt Patterson though.
Your wrong to say there isn’t incompetent officers in the corps that’s just biased we all know for a fact there’s good officers and bad ones you just got lucky
I just can't get over the helmet chin straps. The chin straps man, do you see them? This show is so close to real life, the HMMWV engine sounds, the flaks, the radio communications...and then the chin straps! THE CHIN STRAPS!!!
Yeah, I actually got a helmet similar to that, I always figured I set the chin straps wrong. So I ended up constantly adjusting it until I saw the show.
McGraw was an incompetent ass, but he was also human. Let’s be honest, you can say you wouldn’t be scared in his situation but you would be. All of them were, his issue was that despite his training he decided to voice it constantly. Very well done character, you feel sorry for him, and understand him too.
One of my favourite scenes involving Captain America was the one where one of his Humvees made it over a bridge into a town before the bridge was blocked. He's freaking out on the radio, calling for support, screaming that's he's got men dying in there, when the Battalion Executive Officer, Major ?, shows up. He calmly shuts off Captain America's radio and then proceeds to fix the situation.
This just proves being academy educated doesn't necessarily means you're shaped to be a leader. He could've been the best in his whole class but the field is the real indication of your leadership skills.
Also remember, they purposely dialed him down in the series to make it "more believable." Fick said that he was actually a fairly great Intel officer, but not an infantry one (same with Encino Man.)
I had a sergeant major who categorically stated that Lt. (name withheld) was a c__t. Then he paused and said ... no, c__ts are useful. As a future officer I feared this man.
We had one of these in '03. He walked around with a camcorder taping everything. We put him in charge of our plane ride out of the box; we figured he wouldn't mess that up for sure.
I really don't understand some of the choices you made in editing. Why was the charms scene in her? That had nothing to do with Capt. America. Why did you put the names of every character on the screen? Even the ones that didn't even say anything? Why was Trombley's name big and orange when everyone else, including McGraw's, smaller and white? Why is "dave mcgraw" not capitalized in the title? ...and they call me a drunk.
oh the dave mcgraw was mistake ill change that. i edited with the reflection of my personality i think i got carried away with other ideas while making this but it came out alright i think lol. thanks for your thoughts :)
Daniel bobaniel My comment might have come across slightly more douchey than I intend. I was just confused with the names on screen. I did enjoy the video though.
Except moderately better. If only because he's not a complete pussy and absolute moron. Captain America here is at least willing to go into combat, fight, and lead. He's just not very good at it.
3:25 Even Wright is laughing at his behavior lol. The guy who at first was flinching every time he heard a gunshot has more guts than the Platoon Commander
