Surviving the Cut (2010)

Basic Crewman Training is a five week course designed to weed out the weak. Pool confidence events, punishing beach runs, obstacle courses and a non-stop 50 hour pain session in the chilling waters off the beaches of Coronado confirm that no person slides by here. Passing this course only gives you the right to start training with the Naval Special Warfare Forces. 75% will not survive the cut.

This is the military's premier Sniper school. Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and the military's best soldiers all assemble here to learn the craft of shooting from extreme distances. 50% will not survive the cut at the six-week course. Using a wide range of special weapons and equipment, sniper candidates are put to the test to see if they can make the critical kill shot when they are called upon. Make it and they earn the coveted sniper badge. Miss by an inch and they're shipped home.

Air Force Special Ops is a small but highly valued asset of the Special Operations community. If you are in trouble, these guys will survive any climate to get you out. Water is the most unforgiving environment and they need to be able to operate flawlessly in it. Students are pushed to the limit as they struggle to learn the art of staying clam in adverse underwater conditions. Both open circuit and closed circuit systems are mastered here, but the biggest skill required is surviving pure chaos where there is no air. 1 in 3 will not survive the cut.

Army sappers specialize in punching through an enemy's defensive lines. It's their job to take down whatever stands between combat forces and their target... by whatever means necessary. To earn the sapper tab, soldiers must endure 4 weeks of intense physical punishment, science, and special demolitions tactics training. Sapper school moves fast and furious. There is no heavy equipment to help them break through: what they carry on their backs is what they have to work with. Soldiers suffer through weeks of demolitions testing and physical torment, then fight through a week of nonstop missions with less then 10 minutes of sleep a night. Carrying 80 pound packs, they must struggle up, over, and through any obstacles the instructors put in their path. Only on the final day do they learn their fate. Over 50% will not earn the coveted Sapper Tab.

When America's most elite Special Operations Forces need assault and attack helicopter support, there's one unit they want to provide it: the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). They have the equipment and special tactics required to get the job done, often under the most remote and hostile conditions. They take the riskiest missions with the most severe consequences. Every soldier in the regiment must be Special Operations material. Green Platoon is where they prove they have what it takes. For six weeks, they are pushed through a barrage of mental and physical stress testing: escape and evasion, long-distance land navigation, hand-to-hand combat, special weapons, and emergency medical response skills are front and center. If you can't achieve these skills while under the pressure of non-stop punishment, you will not survive the cut. 1 in 3 will not make it.