IED: "Improvised Explosive Device", could be simple or sophisticated.
UXO: "Unexploded Ordnance", anything that goes "boom" that didn't when it should have or hasn't yet, and threatens our military or civilians.
The continuing development of foreign and US high-technology munitions that disperse numerous submunitions and area denial ordnance has led to the proliferation of UXO. These munitions are available for a range of weapons systems, including artillery, ballistic and cruise missiles, rockets, and bombs. On the battlefield, UXO can be conventional HE [high explosive]; chemical, biological, or nuclear ordnance; or IEDs. UXO limits battlefield mobility, denies the use of critical assets, and threatens to injure or kill soldiers at levels unprecedented in past wars.--US Army Field Manual 9-15, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service and Unit Operations, dated May 8, 1996
After lighting a fuse to detonate an explosive charge, you walk swiftly away. You do not run. If you have to run, it's too late.--A USMC EOD Staff Sergeant, spoken (as close as I can remember after 21 years) at an EOD demonstration I witnessed aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, 1991
Kathryn Bigelow's 2008 film The Hurt Locker (IMDB), winner of the Best Picture Oscar at the 82nd Academy Awards and five others, tells the tale of the last six weeks of deployment of a US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal company in Iraq during 2004, specifically a three-man team comprised of Sergeant First Class (SFC) William James (Jeremy Renner), the team leader, Sergeant (SGT) J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist (SPC) Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). The screenplay was written by Mark Boal, who was an embedded journalist during 2004 in Iraq with an Army EOD unit. The script is largely based on his observations, interviews, and time spent in Iraq, and he was also awarded the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
I sat down to watch the DVD of the film having read just a basic plot overview and knowing that it had been awarded Best Picture. I purposefully did not read any published or viewer reviews before watching to maintain as an open mind as I could to the film, although I will readily admit to a pre-viewing skepticism of its worth based solely on the simple fact that it was recognized by Hollywood as the Best Picture of that year. Given Hollywood's general disdain for things military and patriotic, a movie that both accurately portrays the brave men and women of our military and puts their actions in a positive light is a dubious proposition in my opinion.
That said, a well-made movie about the military and combat is possible, despite present-day Hollywood proclivities. For The Hurt Locker, I was hoping for a little more We Were Soldiers and less Platoon, to use two polar-opposite perspective Vietnam War movies as examples. What did I find?
