Military Channel – March 2007
Firepower! Season 2
From the cockpit of a supersonic jet high above the clouds to the deck of a missile-armed cruiser patrolling the vast expanse of the ocean, FIREPOWER! explains the complexities of military and aerospace technology in simple, layman’s terms.
(Tuesdays at 10 PM)
Photo: Su-27 Flanker Air Superiority and Attack Fighter
Military Channel Home Page
MILITARY CHANNEL HIGHLIGHTS MARCH 2007
COMBAT ZONE
Mondays at 9 PM
World Premiere
[TV-PG(LV)]
Each episode focuses on a single battle, mission or moment of armed conflict from recent history. Told from the personal perspectives of participants, some stories will be well-known while others will be told for the first time. From Korea to Iraq, tales of heroism, courage and valor are told by the men who fought them.
Monday, February 26
9-10 PM
The Deadliest Day (Hawijah, Iraq, 2004)
The US Military’s Forward Operating Base, Fort McHenry, located close to Huwijah, has suffered the most attacks and casualties so far in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Faced with this opposition, the US Army decides it must defend Fort McHenry against attacks and protect the new Iraqi police forces. The battle that follows becomes the “Deadliest Day” for US forces in Iraq.
Monday, March 5
9-10 PM
Hill 875 – Battle of Dak To (Vietnam, 1967)
Thanksgiving Day, 1967. The 2nd and 4th Battalions of the 503rd Airborne Infantry are pushing their way up a steep mountain hill called 875 (the name derives from the height of the mountain, in meters). After calling in air strikes, two waves of troops mount a courageous bayonet charge up to the top of the hill, engaging in hand to hand combat all the way.
Monday, March 12
9-10 PM
BATTLE OF NAJAF (IRAQ)
August, 2004: Najaf is one of the holiest places in the Shiite religion and is the home to the Imam Ali Shrine. The US and Iraqi coalition forces decide that they cannot fire within 400 yards of the shrine, but must eliminate the munitions caches and enemy fighters hidden within the cemetery. The operation turns into a ferocious three week battle, climaxing with an old western style gunfight in the ancient cemetery.
Monday, March 19
9-10 PM
Rescue at Lake Thar Thar (Iraq, 2005)
March 22, 2005: A small squad from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne and a platoon of Iraqi regular army troops are conducting standard reconnaissance and surveillance when suddenly, they are caught in a deadly ambush. Two Special Operations helicopters hear the “mayday” call and the pilots are able to locate and suppress the enemy.
Monday, March 26
9-10 PM
Patrol Boat Rescue (Vietnam)
In the summer of 1969, Army Intelligence reported an influx of Viet Cong near the North Saigon River. Navy Patrol Boat Rescues and an Army Recon Team were ordered to stop them. This hour details how 30 men on 6 boats did just that – resulting in a hard-fought victory.
WEAPONOLOGY
Mondays at 10 PM starting January 15
World Premiere
[TV-14(V)]
Today’s battlefield is dominated by hugely reliable, hyper-lethal, superweapons. Billions of dollars are spent on research and development, in a neverending search for technological superiority. But how did these weapons evolve? Who are the men and women that gave birth to these inventions? Each week, Weaponology takes a high-tech future weapon and unlocks its family tree, tracing the roots of its existence.
Monday, March 5
10-11 PM
ARTILLERY
“God of War” or “King of Battle”…few can question the awesome power of this deadly Weaponology engine of destruction. Artillery can crush an enemy’s will to fight or drive men to the edge of reason. Weaponology takes you on a journey through time to see how the Romans harnessed physical artillery with Catapults and Ballistas before artillery went up a gear with the cannons of the gunpowder era. We witness how modern field artillery pieces were born, the innovations that made guns fire further, faster and more accurately…and not just guns on land but floating fortresses and artillery that takes to the skies.
Monday, March 12
10-11 PM
BOOBY TRAPS
Monday, March 19
10-11 PM
FRAGS, PINEAPPLES AND RPG’S
Monday, March 26
10-11 PM
FIRE WEAPONS
Firepower! Season 2
Tuesdays at 10 PM
World Premiere
[TV-PG]
From the cockpit of a supersonic jet high above the clouds to the deck of a missile-armed cruiser patrolling the vast expanse of the ocean, FIREPOWER! explains the complexities of military and aerospace technology in simple, layman’s terms.
Tuesday, March 6
10-10:30 PM
AIR MOBILITY
Military transport aircraft provide the muscle to project combat power around the world. Fly the muscle of America’s rapid deployment force, the Military Airlift Command, aboard the C-141 Starlifter, C-5 Galaxy and the newest addition, the C-17 Globemaster.
Tuesday, March 13
10-10:30 PM
AIR DEFENSE
Army units are increasingly vulnerable to high-tech jet attack aircraft. Protecting the army against the air threat is the job of the air defense forces. The star of the U.S. Army’s Air Defense Artillery is the Patriot air defense missile system. Adapted in the field in the 1991 Gulf War to intercept SCUD missiles, rather than aircraft, the Patriot remains a vital system in troop protection, and the latest PAC-3 upgrade protects against tactical ballistic missiles as well.
Tuesday, March 20
10-10:30 PM
THE SILENT WAR
Across the oceans of the globe, navies from around the world conduct secret missions deep below the ocean’s surface. Surface ships, aircraft and satellites with high technology sensors probe the oceans’ depths for the elusive submarine, poised to launch cruise missile attacks, and also armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
Tuesday, March 27
10-10:30 PM
BALLISTIC MISSILE
Intercontinental ballistic missiles are the most devastating weapons ever developed by man. The threat posed by these missiles is now less predictable, but no less dangerous, than ever before. Examine how the U.S. operates its strategic missile force, and explore the new technologies, including airborne lasers and kinetic energy weapons, being developed to protect against missile threats.
SUB WEEK
March 5 to 9
Monday, March 5 and Friday, March 9
8-9 PM
[TV-PG]
World Premiere
TOP TEN SUBMARINES**
Whether patiently stalking their prey in two World Wars or carrying devastating nuclear missiles as a deterrent in the Cold War, these hunters of the deep have played an often unseen but crucial role in the conflicts of the 20th century. Based on scientific analyses, expert opinion, audience polls and technical comparison, we construct a five-point matrix to rank the TOP TEN SUBMARINES of all time.
Tuesday, March 6
8 PM
[TV-PG]
SIZE IT UP: SUBS
SIZE IT UP is an exciting, behind-the-scenes look inside extreme military technology, combining heart-pounding action with high-tech wizardry to tell the story of the U.S. Military’s most amazing mechanical marvels. This episode features submarines – from the tiny yet stealthy REMUS, to the mighty and powerful SEAL delivery vehicle.
Wednesday, March 7
8 PM
[TV-PG]
World Premiere
WEAPONS RACES: The Race for the Nuclear Submarine
This program looks at the way in which both the technology and the tactics of submarine warfare were adapted and developed during the Cold War, and how boats like the USS Virginia and the Russian Akula are today’s most powerful and deadly naval units.
Thursday, March 8
8 PM
[TV-PG]
EXTREME MACHINES – Nuclear Submarine
The modern sub is both nuclear powered and nuclear armed. The largest, “Boomers,” lurk for six months at a time in remote corners of the ocean, rarely detected. America’s mighty fleet of subs is the single most important component of national defense, maintaining an incredible strategic and nuclear deterrent across the entire planet.
SPECIALS
THE RITCHIE BOYS
Thursday, March 22
8-10 PM
U.S. Premiere
[TV-PG(V)]
THE RITCHIE BOYS, a critically acclaimed film making its U.S. broadcast premiere, is the untold story of a group of young men who fled Nazi Germany and returned to Europe as soldiers in US-uniforms. They knew the psychology and the language of the enemy better than anybody else. In Camp Ritchie, Maryland, they were trained in intelligence and psychological warfare. Not always courageous, but determined, bright and inventive they fought their own kind of war. They saved lives. They were victors, not victims.
COMBAT CLASSICS
Military-Themed Classic Movies
Saturdays at 9 PM
Network Premiere
Saturday, March 3
9-11 PM
Starring: Leo Genn; Alan Ladd; Harry Andrews; Donald HoustoN
PARATROOPER (1953)
Ladd stars as an American Army officer who resigns his commission after ordering a fellow officer to jump from a plane which is about to crash. Ladd manages to land the plane safely, but his friend dies when his chute fails to open. Determined to avoid life-or-death decisions, Ladd enlists in paratrooper training camp.
Saturday, March 10
9-11 PM
Starring: Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; Max Baer; Paul Peterson; Todd Armstrong; Marshall Reed; Harry Dean Stanton; Harrison Ford
A TIME FOR KILLING (1966)
The Confederate Major and his comrades escape from union forces in Southern Utah, near the end of the Civil War, and are pursued by the Union Captain and his troops. The mission becomes personal for the Union Captain when his fiancée is taken by the rebels as a hostage. Based on a novel by Nelson and Shirley Wolford.
Saturday, March 17
9-11 PM
Starring: Gia Scala; Felix Aylmer; Jack Hawkins; Erik Schumann; Alexander Knox
THE TWO-HEADED SPY (1958)
A German army general during World War II is really a British spy who reports to London through a Swiss antique dealer. When the dealer is apprehended, a beautiful radio singer succeeds him, transmitting information through a musical code. This engrossing spy story is based on truth.
Saturday, March 24
9-11 PM
Starring: Anne Bancroft; Simon Ward; Robert Shaw; Jane Seymour; Anthony Hopkins; Robert Flemyng
YOUNG WINSTON (1972)
Winston Churchill was one of the titanic statesmen of the 20th century, as well as a talented and erudite writer of history and memoirs. The historical epic opens with Churchill’s years as a junior officer in India and freelance war correspondent and follows him through his escape from a Boer War prison camp and his election to Parliament at age 26.
Saturday, March 31
9-11 PM
Starring: Ray Danton; Julie Adams; Karen Sharpe; Kerwin Mathews; Onslow Stevens; Russell Thorsen
TARAWA BEACHHEAD (1958)
The horrors of Guadalcanal become vivid in this poignant war drama about a Marine sergeant who witnesses the deliberate murder of a buddy by a glory-seeking Lieutenant.
ONGOING SERIES
AROUND THE SERVICES
Weekdays at 4 PM
Providing up-to-date military news from top defense officials and military services from around the world, AROUND THE SERVICES, a half-hour news program from the Department of Defense, takes viewers directly to news conferences and press briefings, and allows current members of the Armed Forces, veterans, family members and loved ones to stay informed regarding current military affairs.