Why some military veterans do not support the movie The Hurt Locker

Taking home six Oscars, “The Hurt Locker” was one of the most popular movies viewed by members of the US military in 2009.  Winning the Oscar for best picture, “The Hurt Locker” would appear to be one of the best movies portrayed about the goings-on of soldiers serving in a war zone.  However, some veterans are speaking out about this highly-fictional movie involving a special elite group that work within the US military.

There is no denying that “The Hurt Locker” is an action-packed movie that will keep most viewers entertained.  But if you are a military member, the inaccuracies throughout the movie are quite distracting.  From the tactical procedures to military protocol, the movie doesn’t come close to portraying the life of the average solider serving in Iraq.

“The Hurt Locker” is pretty much surrounded on the life of one man on an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team – one man of a three-man team.  This trio parades around Iraq, disposing of bombs and/or IED’s and ultimately save the day.  The main character continually puts his teams’ lives in danger and if disposing of bombs doesn’t give enough of an adrenaline rush, the team later takes off through the streets of Iraq at night to hunt down the bad guys – which gets one of the team members shot.

The protocol for disabling IED’s and even life on base in general is completely thrown to the wayside for the benefit of your entertainment.  Most probable scenario would be dead soldiers littering the streets of Iraq should our military members even try these John Wayne techniques.  A single humvee with three EOD personnel are not going to go cruising the streets of Iraq alone – let alone out in the desert where they stumble upon security contractors and together, they take out enemy snipers.

The events that take place for the trio (especially for the main character) can only happen in the movies.  Hijacking an Iraqi local by gunpoint, being driven to an unknown location, breaking into a home, getting smacked around a bit by a female local, leaping a wall, and running back through the streets of Iraq to base – don’t think so.  Clearing buildings and hunting down bombers in the middle of the night – don’t think so.  But not just hunting down bombers in the middle of the night, the three-man team split up to hunt down the bad guys – don’t think so.

For an action-packed thrilling ride – “The Hurt Locker” is a good movie.  But for military-correctness, “The Hurt Locker” fails miserably.  A movie that accurately portrays a soldier’s life in Iraq or Afghanistan – “The Hurt Locker” is not.   If you go into watching the movie with the understanding that “The Hurt Locker” is completely fictional, you won’t be disappointed.