--- "Jason Hart" <staff@b...> wrote:
>  They also say that the KE
> weapon (5.56mm) will be accurate to 1000m with the sight.

1k? As if. Be lucky to go 500m with that stubby little barrel. Even
if you do hit the f'er the round's too slow to fragment even at the
muzzle. Hope Big Green gets the heavy 5.56 loads fielded before that
POS gets some mothers son killed.

Members,

I now have a stable phone number 714-323-1375.  The email address is,
as always, HMAGUY@....

Give a ring or send a message.  Love to hear from you.

John Lovett

New Articles at Suite101 - Military Movies.

The article "The Justified State" has been published on Suite101.
This article is a riposte to John Pilger's article "The Rogue State."

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/93602

John has written a guest article "Hollywood and the Nuclear Age" for
Suite101 site The Cold War.  He will be following up this article
with
similar articles in the following months.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/6213/92795

We are now up to 3143 posts on The Hollywood Military Advisor Chat
Board.  Up over two hundred posts from February 2002.

http://hollywoodnetwork.com/Lovett/chat/board.html

If you have not seen the Q & A there, check it out.

Remember that this Yahoo Group is for you to discuss the military,
the
movies, or just about anything you would like in any form you would
like.

If anyone wants to write a guest article about the military and the
movies for Suite101, please contact me. Get your name in print.

Read. Enjoy. Leave a comment or two.

Thanks

John Lovett
[Phone: 714-278-9737]

New Article at Suite101 - Military Movies.

The article "A Personal View of Military Movies" is a short tale of
how and why I don't watch war movies.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/89725

We are now up to 2909 posts on The Hollywood Military Advisor Chat
Board.  http://hollywoodnetwork.com/Lovett/chat/board.html  If you
have not seen the Q & A there, check it out.

Remember that this Yahoo Group is for you to discuss the military,
the movies, or just about anything you would like in any form you
would like.

If anyone wants to write a guest article about the military and the
movies for Suite101, please contact me.  Get your name in print.

Read. Enjoy. Leave a comment or two.

Thanks

John Lovett

[Phone: 714-278-9384]
[Page: 800-946-4646, Pin# 1722580]

This time I have two articles for your perusal at Suite101 - Military
Movies.

The article "So, You Want to Be a Military Advisor for the Movies?
Part II" is a cautionary tale for those who want to work in Hollywood.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/82318

The article "Stereotypes, the War Movie, and Hollywood" speaks to
certain stereotypes and their prevalence in the movies.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/86906

If anyone wants to write a guest article about the military and the
movies, please contact me.

Read. Enjoy. Leave a comment or two.

Thanks

John Lovett

[Phone: 714-222-2460]
[Page: 800-946-4646, Pin# 1722580]

SCREENPLAY WANTED FOR FILMING:

Perkins Productions is looking for a screenplay to
produce. There is no pay, but credit and a copy of the
completed film will be provided. Description is as
follows:

We are looking for a romantic comedy/romantic drama
short screenplay, between five and 25 pages. (We do
have plans on filming a feature length film in the
near future. Those scripts may also be submitted, but
please note them separately from the shorts.)

There should be a male and female lead, in their 20’s.
No other restrictions on characters.

We do not want: nudity, graphic violence, incestuous
situations, or extremely excessive vulgar language. If
your script includes any of these, but you are willing
to let us edit it, by all means please submit it.

Our goal is to enter this film into various film
festivals. We cannot accept screenplays that have been
previously produced.

Submit your screenplay in Word format, please. Other
submissions will be accepted, but this is our
preference. Include your contact information and any
relevant information you would like us to know
concerning the script (if it has won any awards, why
it was written, what it means to you, etc.).

Email your screenplay to Melanie Fairlight at
ScreenplayFairlight@.... Submissions accepted
when emailed by November 30, 2001.

Please complete the following cover sheet and submit
it with your screenplay.

For more information, please contact:
Melanie Fairlight Clifton or Stephen W. Perkins at
PerkinsProductions@....

We look forward to reading your screenplays!

UPON ACCEPTANCE, ALL NORTH AMERICAN SERIAL RIGHTS WILL
BE HELD BY PERKINS PRODUCTIONS.

(this message will also be attached in Word format)

SCREENPLAY SUBMITTED BY:

Name:
Phone:
Cell phone/pager:
Email:
Address:
Other Contact Information:

SCREENPLAY INFORMATION:

Name of Screenplay:
When Written:
Author(s):
Number of Pages:
Number of Characters (break down by leads, supporting,
and extras):
Log line:
Brief synopsis:
Has this screenplay ever been submitted and/or chosen
for anything else?
Other notes:


__________________________________________________
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Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals.
http://personals.yahoo.com

The Hollywood Military Advisor is quoted by the Associated Press!!!

Read the complete article at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/75242

My wife told me I should raise my rates.  I told her that I don't
think the mortgage is going to paid off anytime soon.

John Lovett

[John Lovett]
[Chief Consultant]
[The Hollywood Military Advisor]
[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7906/]
[Phone:  714-222-2460]
[PAGE: 800-946-4646 PIN#1722580]

As ListBot will cease free operation as of August 2001, all future
correspondence will occur here.

This month's article on Suite101 is "Why Do Some People Hate War
Movies" http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/73847 .

Next month's article is going to be on the subject of Hollywood and
stereotypes.

Read.  Enjoy.  Write a Message or two.

John Lovett

[John Lovett]
[Chief Consultant]
[The Hollywood Military Advisor]
[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7906/]
[Phone:  714-222-2460]
[PAGE: 800-946-4646 PIN#1722580]

A hearty welcome to all new members.  The mailing list now has 18
members and growing.  Whooaaa!

There is a new article and a book review at Suite101 - Military
Movies.

              Article

              SURVIVOR, COMBAT MISSIONS and the "Reality" Wars

              http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/62483

              and

              Book Review

              The Salzdorf Wellspring

              http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/63906

              Read.  Enjoy.  Leave a comment or two.

              Thanks

              John Lovett

              [Phone:  714-222-2460]
              [Page:  800-946-4646, Pin# 1722580]

There is a new article at Suite101 - Military Movies.  The subject is

              Gladiator and History

              http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/62311


Also read installment II on Media and the Vietnam War

              http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/58294

My April article for Suite101 will be SURVIVOR, COMBAT MISSIONS, and
the new "reality" wars.  Or, how you can be kicked out of a
producer's office because you were never a SEAL.

              Read.  Enjoy.  Leave a comment or two.

Remember that the Military Advisor at eGroups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/militaryadvisor is available for
discussion of military/media/grousing issues.

                           Thanks

                           John Lovett

              [Phone:  714-222-2460]
              [Page:  800-946-4646, Pin# 1722580]

The Hollywood Military Advisor got honorable mention in The Christian
Science Monitor.  Read the article posted at

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/07/14/fp1s4-csm.shtml

Read John's newest article at Suite101 - You Might Be a Soldier, If .
. .
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/military_movies/43514 .

The Hollywood Military Advisor needs more contacts.  Help us out
here.
   If you know someone you think would be interested invite them to
join.  It's free.

As always.

John

[John Lovett]
[Chief Consultant]
[The Hollywood Military Advisor]
[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7906/]
[714-222-2460]

There is a new article at Suite101 - Military Movies "Hollywood
Fights
The Facts."

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3220/41585

Enjoy the read.  Leave a comment or two here or at Suite101.

John Lovett

One can make a good war film and not have it realistic. 
Or, one could make a realistic war film and not have it good. 

 

This is the new article being posted to Military Movies_Suite101 on
Tuesday, 2 May 00.

Before you give this a read, I would like to thank Geoff Topping for
his information on THE MUMMY.  Interesting reading.

How Do I Make A Good And Realistic War Movie?

This was a question posted to The Hollywood Military Advisor Chat
Board (http://hollywoodnetwork.com/Lovett/chat/board.html) Ref 1336.
How do I make a good and realistic war movie?

My answer was Ref 1337. Ref 1336 - Well, you have asked the $64,000
question. Part of your answer can be found in the articles I have
written from Suite101 - Military Movies
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/military_movies .  Another part
of your answer is to read the scripts for and watch war movies of
good reputation. A further part of the answer is to read novels
written about war. At the core, to make a good and realistic movie,
any kind of movie, you need to be honest and have integrity towards
the story and characters. Good luck on your movie. JL.

Yeh, I fudged.  I admit it.  I was tempted to suggest to the
questioner that the two issues; good and realistic, were mutually
exclusive.  One can make a good war film and not have it realistic.
Or, one could make a realistic war film and not have it good.  Maybe,
that was just the cynic in me?

Interestingly, this person asked the core question that makes both
the chat board and this e - magazine site exist.  More specifically,
can Hollywood make war films that are good and realistic?  The answer
to that question can be found by answering these two separate
questions "How realistic?" and "How good?"

While watching History and Hollywood on the History Channel over the
weekend regarding U-571, one the commentators mentioned that the
American submarine used for the movie was a S-Boat manufactured prior
to the war.  Win one for the good guys.  Not having seen the film, I
cannot comment on the rest of the historical accuracy's or
inaccuracies but with that one big effort the producers did well.

When two ex - submariners, one German the other American, were asked
specific historical questions about the movie they said that this or
that could not have been done.  Yeh, I guess.  However, without this
or that being done you don't have a movie.

A movie such as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN certainly has its historical and
continuity mistakes, but the film can be said to be both well done
and realistic.  Other war movies such as 84 CHARLIE MOPIC could be
said to be realistic, but lacked production values.

How good is good?  How realistic is realistic?  I guess I go back to
what I gave as my answer.  As a writer/director/producer, you have to
be honest to your story and give the viewer something that as real as
you can make without compromising the story you want to tell.  If the
swivel bail hooks on the helmets are not the right design for the
period, don't let that stop you from creating a good story.

Hello everyone,

Greetings from the UK.

I'm 24 and a film propmaker, but hopefully I will soon gain an
apprenticeship to a theatrical armourer in the UK. I'm glad to see
that this list is operating and I look foward to future discussions.

I don't know if you blokes would be interested but I recently spoke
with Andrew Fletcher, a British armourer who worked on the Lebel
rifles that were used in 'The Mummy' and were subsequently hired to
Simon Atherton.

This is taken from an article I have written about the work of
British armourers/ gun wranglers and is due to be published in a
forthcoming edition of the special effects publication 'Sci-Fi &
Fantasy Models International'.

Andrew Fletcher: However in the case of a weapon that hasn't
often been used, it will usually go through a restoration period
prior to use.

If it a weapon is chambered in an obsolete or rare calibre, say a WW1
8mm Lebel rifle, then we will use the closest thing available. In the
case of the Lebel, we used Russian 7.62mm x 54. However, the rifle
operates from a tube magazine, so it requires a full length round to
operate.

The blanks we utilised were full length and crimped, but were only
produced in Yugoslavia. After all the troubles there, they were no
longer available, so we had to use blanks with shorter cases.

This meant an alteration to the Lebel magazine, so that it
wouldn't double feed two rounds at the same time.

We later found that we could adapting an existing case to meet our
needs. This is typical of the changes that are forced upon us.

----
Geoff Topping

Some parts I liked.  Some, I was incredulous.  (Just to set you
straight, I cheered when he ordered the return fire - to the
consternation of fellow moviegoers).

Maj Biggs a hero?!? Hardly.  More than willing to turn a blind eye to
the gov't cover up in order to further his career.  As a prosecuter it
is your duty to investigate all facts of the case.

1st, when the CO landed at the embassy, he wouldn't have had to go
looking for the ambassador - one of the Marine Security Guards at the
embassy would have escorted him to the ambassador.

2nd, the CO wouldn't have gone after the flag himself, he'd have sent a
detail (but, I think this is excusable for action in the story line).

3rd, by the standard rules of engagement, once one of my men had TAKEN
fire, much less been hit, I'd have ordered return fire.  Hell, once the
helos took fire, it was a hot LZ.

4th, the fact that a government flack (cabinet secretary, no less) just
loses his cool and makes a rash decision to hang out the people at the
scene, just made me gag.  I'm still sick to know that it still (really)
occurs.

5th, no Marine Security Guards testifying at the trial.  What the hell?

6th, complete Article 32 investigatin, my ass.  Where was the forensic
evidence?  How about the physical evidence of the angle of the shots
into the embassy facade - surely that would have shown fire from the
ground/crowd.

7th, Dale Dye's Division Commander role should have fell on his sword to
defend his subordinate.  That he didn't shows the Div CO wasn't worthy
of his two stars.  Unfortunately, this is all to common today, even in
the USMC.

Finding the NVA officer wouldn't be that big a deal.  The US actually
has several military teams operating in Vietnam now on MIA discovery.
Getting him to testify, THAT's the big deal.

Jason Hart wrote:

> I must say that the first impression I had of the movie was that it
> was very irrisponsible.  The only one worth rooting for was Maj.
> Biggs.  Maybe someone who has been shot at can give me some guidance,
> but I thought that the actions of everyone involved showed the Marine
> Corp in a very poor light.
>
> Dale's Div Cdr was bullied.
>
> CDR 24th MEU "special ops capable" didn't clean up his mess, ie
> confiscate weapons etc.
>
> And how in the heck did they find a guy from VN last seen 30 years ago
>
> (and not even so much as searched for ID) in a week?
>
> I am amazed that the DOD cooperated with them.
>
> Could have been a good story.  They picked the wrong guy to help with
> it....should have been you John.
>
> Jason Hart
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Community email addresses:
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>   Unsubscribe:  militaryadvisor-unsubscribe@onelist.com
>   List owner:   militaryadvisor-owner@onelist.com
>
> Shortcut URL to this page:
>   http://www.onelist.com/community/militaryadvisor

I must say that the first impression I had of the movie was that it
was very irrisponsible.  The only one worth rooting for was Maj.
Biggs.  Maybe someone who has been shot at can give me some guidance,
but I thought that the actions of everyone involved showed the Marine
Corp in a very poor light.

Dale's Div Cdr was bullied.

CDR 24th MEU "special ops capable" didn't clean up his mess, ie
confiscate weapons etc.

And how in the heck did they find a guy from VN last seen 30 years ago
(and not even so much as searched for ID) in a week?

I am amazed that the DOD cooperated with them.

Could have been a good story.  They picked the wrong guy to help with
it....should have been you John.

Jason Hart

This article appears in this month's U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings.
Due to copyright constraints, I am not publishing the entire article,
but enough so that you can get a good read.  Pay particular attention
to what Mr. Webb says about the military technical advice given to
the movie.

If some of you out there are also members of the ListBot service, you
will get this article twice.

The entire article can be read at
http://www.proceedings.org/Proceedings/Aritcles00/webb.htm .

Interview: James Webb

On the eve of the premiere of the new Paramount Pictures movie, Rules
of Engagement, the film€  '²s creator, executive producer, and
co-writer
talked recently at his office overlooking the Iwo Jima Memorial in
northern Virginia with Naval Institute editor Fred L. Schultz. The
self-described iconoclast discusses the machinations of Hollywood and
its prevailing attitudes toward the military, his service as
Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy, the gap
between civilian and military cultures, and his opinions about the
current condition of military leadership.

Proceedings : Obviously, the subject of rules of engagement plays
heavily on the readers of this magazine. How did the new film, Rules
of Engagement, come about?

Webb: I conceived the idea in 1989, when Scott Rudin began producing
after having been president of production at 20th-Century Fox. He had
read Bob Timberg€  '²s article in Esquire, which was the seminal
article
for his book, The Nightingale€  '²s Song. We had a discussion that
boiled
down to the notion of military loyalty. Timberg€  '²s article had
struck
him, when it mentioned that, although I did not particularly like
Oliver North, if I€  '²d been working in the White House at the time
of
the Iran-Contra activities, I would not have let him do what he did.
This led to a discussion of Marine Corps loyalty, as opposed to what
you see in the civilian world. I made a comment that basically
was: "In the Marine Corps, loyalty means you will die for somebody
even if you don€  '²t like them." He said, "You know, there€  '²s a
movie in
that."

Proceedings Why do you think the public is so ignorant about what a
combat commander has to go through?

Webb: The level of ignorance is extremely high. A big part of that is
because Hollywood has become, in many ways, the articulator of our
culture€  '·-to ourselves and to the world. Right now, 60 percent of
the
money Hollywood makes is in international sales. If you look at the
films that have been done about the U.S. military-€  '·anything after
World War II-€  '·they are simplistic on these issues, and they are
not
positive. You see a repetitive theme, either about the corruption of
U.S. military leaders or the depiction that Americans just shoot
things up, without restrictions.  Proceedings Based on what we€  '²ve
heard, that is extraordinary in the movie business. Maybe they did
realize that they were going to alienate the Marine Corps, a major
portion of the potential audience.

Webb: Probably the most unfortunate occurrence in the shooting of the
film was that Dale Dye was technical adviser. In my view, he should
have been more loyal to the Marine Corps and backed me on what I said.

Proceedings You€  '²ve been a vocal critic of military leadership,
and you
were especially tough in your 1996 speech at the Naval
Institute€  '²s
Annual Meeting. I€  '²m sure you remember that. Has anything changed
since then?

Webb: Yes, I remember. Let€  '²s back up to that speech. The biggest
problem at the time was the cascading effect of the Navy€  '²s
leadership€  '²s failure to defend its culture after the Tailhook
incident. In 1992, I wrote a piece for the New York Times, basically
saying that the problem wasn€  '²t the Navy€  '²s culture. The
problem was
the admirals who were standing there saying we have a flaw in the
culture, or who were allowing the civilian process to say that we had
a corrupt culture.  If that were true, if the Navy€  '²s culture was
permanently flawed and that was what caused Tailhook, then every one
of those guys should have resigned. And if the culture wasn€  '²t
structurally flawed, if this was an isolated incident that happened
on one part of a hotel, where some people got out of hand, then they
should have spoken up, and the whole thing might have taken a
different turn. You tell me that what happened in a mosh pit at a
Woodstock celebration last summer was less notorious than what
happened at Tailhook? That was much more notorious. There were actual
rapes in the mosh pit at Woodstock €  '²99. But where were the media?
Proceedings What would you say your biggest accomplishment was in your
public service?

Webb: It€  '²s hard to say. I was a committee counsel for four years
in
the Congress, and that was a time when veterans€  '² issues were
extremely
visible. I think probably the most important thing that I did was to
create the legislation that countered the Carter discharge
program.Proceedings Why did you decide to leave public service and go
into literature and filmmaking?

Webb: From the time I left the Marine Corps, I€  '²ve done both. I
have an
unwitting career. Actually, I wrote my first book after my first year
in law school. It was a small book on Micronesia and American
strategic interests in the Pacific.  So I just became fascinated with
writing and started Fields of Fire.

Proceedings Do you have the same type of relationship with the
filming of Fields of Fire as you had with Rules of Engagement?

Webb: Having learned how Hollywood operates and feeling how important
the Vietnam story is, especially because it€  '²s never been done
right,
I decided to do Fields of Fire outside the studio system. It€  '²s
harder. But if you sell a story or a novel into the studio system,
into what they call "development," they own it; they own it
creatively, they own every one of those characters, and they can do
anything they want. All they have to do is pay you out.

Proceedings What advice would you give to young people who are
contemplating a military career?

Webb: First of all, I think you€  '²ve got to make that decision for
yourself.  My son just turned 18 and is very interested in going into
the Marine Corps. I€  '²m really proud of him for that. But, at the
same
time, if he were doing it purely because somebody else wanted him to,
then he would be in the wrong place.  And the question always has
been whether they are inspired, whether the leadership and the nation
will convince them that what they€  '²re doing is important. Napoleon
said that there are no bad regiments; there are only bad colonels.

John Lovett
Chief Consultant
The Hollywood Military Advisor
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7906/
714-222-2460

To those of you who read my articles at Suite101, please note that
the address has changed to
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/military_movies .  So, change
your bookmarks.

Here is the newest article at Suite101 - Military Movies.  Read.
Enjoy

Is it the Reel World or the Real World?


Currently, I am taking a seminar on screenwriting from an
accomplished screenwriter.  A producer friend asked me, "As a
produced screenwriter, why would you need to take a course on
screenwriting?"  My reply was that I am also an accomplished trap and
skeet shooter but I also take courses on how to improve my skills.
Every little bit helps.

One of the major discussions in this screenwriting class has been
about the difference between the reel world and the real world.  One
thing this screenwriter keeps talking about is, "Don't let your moral
compass get in the way of the story."  As a writer, I can agree with
that statement.  As a consultant, I try to get the right "feel" to a
movie.

For me, the real world versus reel world dichotomy is one that I
struggle with every day.  For example, a producer came to me and
asked me to bid on the use of tanks for the filming of a parade for a
movie.  What period, I asked?  They said, oh, we just want to film a
parade scene and need a tank.  I persisted, what period I asked;
World War II, modern, what?  They did not care, just a tank.  So, I
bid out a working Korean War vintage M46.  The discussion about the
uniforms and weapons all went about the same direction.  Ultimately,
I bid out BDUs for the extras, M16s, the M46, and various vehicles
including a M3 Half-track.  As my teenage daughter would say, "Am I
bad?"

Consider, movies are entertainment.  While they should be as close to
existing historical knowledge as possible, sometimes getting
everything perfect is beyond the monetary capabilities of the movie
company.  So should we, as viewers, just dismiss the movie out of
hand because the soldiers carried M1903A1 Springfields instead of
M1903A3 Springfields?  My feeling is no, story will overcome the
difficulties.  However, others take the opposite view.

In a discussion with a friend in the aerospace industry, he told me
that MISSION TO MARS was completely spoiled for him because of the
little robot explorer shown in the beginning of the film.  He is
absolutely convinced that NASA would never build something that
looked like a tinker toy.  I am not so sure about that, but the real
point is why did he let that incident ruin the rest of the movie for
him?

I have seen internet pages dedicated to the factual and historical
mistakes found in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.  Did these individuals find
the movie less enjoyable because of the mistakes?  Well, they had to
have watched the film a healthy number of times to find all the
mistakes.  So, I guess they enjoyed something about the movie.

To further complicate the argument, I have stated in the past and
continue to state that if the producer has the money to ensure his
favorite starlet's hair is just right he has the money to ensure the
basic factual and historical integrity of the film is right.
However, to paraphrase President Abraham Lincoln, you can't please
all the people all the time.  Due to economics, politics, and a
number of other 'ics, no matter what you do as a producer, writer, or
military advisor, you cannot win all the battles.  You just try to
win enough.

As far as the reel world and the real world argument goes, I can only
say that I pick my battles and hope to win some.  For example, I
recently ended a project where I did additional military dialog such
as radio communications and background noise.  The movie had already
finished filming (film lock in movie parlance), but needed help.
Since there was film lock, I could in no way go back and have re -
filmed the scenes where the supposed U.S. soldiers in incorrect
uniforms with incorrect weapons could be changed.  At least in this
case, the producer was willing to listen to my comments and promised
to work with me next time.

John

I tried to respond once but it didn't take so here goes again.

They had the OICW(objective individual combat weapon) and its big
brother (OCSW) at the "KNOX summer arms fest" (Armor Conference).

The display had a video of the airburst round and a current issue
(not the high speed ranger vest) PAGST(?) kevlar vest.  From a height
of 8 ft it hit the vest 38 times, and "hole'd" it 32.  Now you have
much more experience than I do in the testing/acquisitions dept. so I
will defer the bogus test results opinion.  They also say that the KE
weapon (5.56mm) will be accurate to 1000m with the sight. laff.  That
has to get quite a few long rifle experts a little miffed.

However, yes that bad boy would be a lugg.  It also seems that the
army is scraping the "Land Warrior" program, or at least revamping
it.  Something to do with batteries not lasting and the helmet/ruck
combo not letting you to lift your head while prone.  aahhh
progress.....

The OCSW is a 25mm and will replace the M-2 and the Mk-19....we'll
see.

Jason Hart

LER?
   LER, TOUR OF DUTY is playing out here on an independent channel at
   some ungodly time like 2:00 am.

On 2 Mar 00, LER wrote on The HMA Chat Board, "As an "anti-reference"
you might consider the episode of "LA LAW" where actress Susan Dey
(as civilian lawyer "Grace Van Owen") is allowed to give long
political diatribes against the US invasion of Panama as part of a
"court martial" episode."

As a screenwriter I know says, "Don't let your moral conscience get
in the way of entertainment."  However, equally the 'moral
conscience' of some other screenwriter should not directed at me when
what they are protraying is entertainment.  Personally, I did not see
the episode but I can imagine.

What do you'll think?

LER, TOUR OF DUTY is playing out here on an independent channel at
some ungodly time like 2:00 am.

There is an interesting article in today's LA Times
about the new soldier weapon the US Army is
considering.

It seems this new wonder weapon is a 5.56 carbine
attached to a 20 mm grenade launcher attached to
a laser sight.  The thing should weigh in at 12 lbs
or so.  The laser sight is not only for sighting
on the target, but also for reading range and
super - elevating the target point for the grenade
launcher.

It seems that in grenade launcher mode, the soldier
can fire the grenade at a point in space for a
specific distance and the grenade will explode
1 or 2 meters about the designated target.  Thus,
enemy soldiers in trenches are vulnerable.

I guess I have two itty - bitty problems with this
scenarios.  First problem, the 40 mm grenade has a
kill radius of only about 2 meters (I know the
official radius is 5 meters, but I got the info
from the manufacturer.)  A 20 mm grenade is likely
to have less than half that radius.  Say, less than
1 meter.  That means that the grenade would literally
have to hit the enemy to be effective.

Second problem, weight and ammunition.  With soldiers
already carrying 70 - 80 lbs in weight, how much
more is this new system going to increase their load?
With grenades and 5.56 ammo and possibly a spare
laser sight, you got yourself quite a load.

Any comments?  Insights?

Great information!  It would seem that Mr. Atherton thought through a tough
problem and came up with a solution acceptable to not only the viewing public
but the producers as well.

Thanks, Mr. Lewis for the inside scoop.

John Lovett
The HMA Guy

John Lovett, who seems to run the screenwriters bulletin board for military
advice invited me to post the stories I heard this morning from Mr. Simon
Atherton, the armorer during filming of "The Mummy" in Morocco.  I hope you may
find them of some interest.

With no further preamble, Mr. Atherton's stories:

It was necessary to get permission from the King of Morocco himself to be
allowed to bring weapons and ammunition into the country.  The Moroccan military
officer assigned to watch over the filming at first demanded that every empty
blank casing be collected and accounted for, until it was demonstrated to him
that this would be impossible during the "charging horsemen" scenes.

Those charging horsemen were mostly Moroccan "fantasia" riders, with a few UK
stunt men stirred in.  The director was upset that the Moroccan horsemen would
fire their rifles up into the air, instead of pointing them towards the enemy to
fire.  Simon explained to him that they had been trained from birth to fire them
into the air during displays.  Not being willing to have lots of unsophisticated
Moroccan horsemen firing black powder blanks straight ahead in close formation,
due to the danger that they would blast one another or their horses, it was
finally decided that only the stunt men in the throng would do the blank
shooting, with the Moroccans just riding along brandishing their rifles
picturesquely.

This solved another potential problem in that it allowed the Moroccans to use
their own (unloaded) weapons for the scenes, as it was feared that if
studio-rented rifles were provided for the filming, the horsemen would just ride
away with them at the close of day.

50 of the rifles used by the Legionnaires were original, period Lebels rented
from someplace near London, with the rest being rubber Lebel mockups.  Most of
the Legionnaires were German and French tourists in Morocco who signed up as
extras.

Thanks for the invitation, JL.

Chick Lewis

Here's the skinny.

Report: Spielberg to create television series for NBC

By Associated Press, 09/30/99

NEW YORK -- Steven Spielberg has reached an agreement with NBC to create a
television drama series about the United States Marine Corps, The New York
Times reported today.

The series, to be called "Semper Fi," will chronicle the lives of a group of
young marines from their entrance into boot camp through their assignment to
the Marines' Special Forces unit.

The newspaper cited an unidentified senior NBC executive who said the network
has agreed in principle to buy 13 episodes of the series from Spielberg's
studio, DreamWorks SKG.

The two sides still must work out an agreement over production costs for the
series, which is expected to be ready for the fall 2000 season.

The pilot episode is to be directed by the two-time Oscar-winning director,
and would be the first time he has directed for television since 1986, when
he oversaw several episodes of the series "Amazing Stories."

Spielberg already has retained the services of Dale Dye, the former Marine
Corps captain who served as a consultant on Spielberg's Oscar-winning
film "Saving Private Ryan," the NBC executive said.

JL:

Do you have any more info on the Speilburg series "Semper Fi"?  (Or maybe Capt
Dye would like to post...)

Couv

Well, let me get this thing started.  Relying on the comments left by some
anonymous donor, I would like to respond in this forum.

>contrary to most who write or comment about the u.s. role in viet nam,
it was obvious early on that a victory on the mainland of asia was
virtually impossible if not totally impossible. we realized that to win
meant, ultimately, that we would have to occupy the territory which would
have resulted in the loss of troops ad infinitum and our total losses in
victory would have made our wartime casualties look minimal by comparison.
our effort in viet nam was not in vain. nevertheless, we were forced into
that war situation because of the vestiges of McCarthyism. no american
president could appear to be "soft on communism" even if that communism was
not of the international variety and even though the communist "enemy" in viet
nam, ho chi minh, was also an ardent enemy of his sponsor nation, china.
ho was a nationalist; not an international communist as the history of the
region since 1973 has revealed. the "domino theory" in that region has been
debunked!<

Ah, no.  Having read the classified SF reports to the Pentagon, I can only tell
you that among special warfare types they felt they could win the war in
Vietnam.  Just as the British had defeated the communists in Malaysia, SF felt
they could use similar tactics to defeat both the VC and NVA.  The caveats were
that they needed time to build ARVN confidence and expertise, money to continue
the operations over an extended period of time, and secrecy for all operations
dealing with US/RVN operations.  SF got none of that.  With the Tonkin Gulf
Incident and the entry of large scale use of air/ground missions and the
subsequent need to send the USMC to protect the airfields, all pretense of
dealing with the VN War as an internal struggle, and one well suited for SF -
style operations, went bye - bye.

Any one want to take a shot?

JL

Hey John...

I'm aboard!


Maj. Couvillon

Welcome to The Hollywood Military Advisor Onelist.  This is your place for
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Military Chat Board which caters to the motion picture and television
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Thanks.

John Lovett