Marines prepare to invade Iraq at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While the soldiers wait to receive their orders, they learn a Rolling Stone columnist will be embedded with them.

Bravo heads north towards Nasiriyah, where Alpha Company is in a skirmish outside the city. Ferrando and the squad later go north to Mesopotamia, the `Cradle of Civilisation', but a wrong turn sees them behind other companies.

Bravo scopes out a roadside hamlet after surviving its first trial by fire, but the company watches in horror and disbelief as a regimental combat team arrives with guns firing and obliterates the hamlet.

After racing to capture the airfield, First Recon is miles ahead of the rest of the US force and has time to regroup.

The men of Bravo are frustrated by the capricious nature of the war, and the actions of higher-ups are getting harder to defend.

Captain America is over eager in his attempts to subdue a prisoner, while his men's growing disillusionment with his command is becoming more apparent.