Sgt. 1st Class Steven Mason is a jungle-warfare instructor for the 25th Infantry "Tropic Lightning" Division in Hawaii. Here, he reacts to 10 memorable scenes from jungle-warfare movies and rates them based on their accuracy.
Mason reviews classic Hollywood movies such as "The Thin Red Line" (1998), "Platoon" (1986), "Tears of the Sun" (2003), "Forrest Gump" (1994), and "We Were Soldiers" (2002). He also rates the realism of the HBO miniseries "The Pacific" (2010).
How reasonable are the jungle tactics in "Predator" (1987)? Does Christian Bale use the correct method for jungle helicopter rescue in "Rescue Dawn" (2006)? How realistic are the stealth and sniping tactics in "Sniper" (1993)? And would the camouflage Sylvester Stallone uses in "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) be successful?
The Jungle Operations Training Course in Hawaii is a 12-day program for US Army regiments that covers mobility training, waterborne operations, combat tracking, jungle tactics, and survival training. Students learn the tactics, techniques, and procedures required to fight, win, and survive. There are 10 courses a year for regular active-duty soldiers, Marines, sailors, and airmen, and menu-based training for Special Operations. Mason has been involved in the course since 2014 and became the senior instructor in 2018.
