It's another one of those HBO miniseries, and the setting is in '03, during the invasion of Iraq where it features a Marine Recon platoon.
Anyone who wants a (rarely) factual glimpse into real military life that's actually interesting to watch ought to give this a try, and it very accurately simulates the kind of banter that soldiers trade with one another. There are plenty of military acronyms and jargon that go unexplained here that can confuse the average viewer but make plenty of sense to military, or ex-military personnel like me.
Overall, a modern day Band of Brothers, and a war film without too much drama and provides multiple and accurate glimpses of procedures (such as the chemical defense procedure in the first episode, where people yell "GAS! GAS! GAS!", and everyone yanks their gas masks out of the pouches strapped to their right thighs, strap it on right away, pull the hood over their heads and shove their hands into the gloves), and military cockups that happen just too often, be it during training or actual operations, such as jungle camo chemical warfare gear being issued to troops in a desert war.
