The killing field, and we’re there

Every day, images from the war in Iraq fill our TV screens -- nameless troops on the move or the destruction caused by a car bombing. Local stations show the homecomings of troops who have completed their tours. What we rarely see, though, are the danger zones in which military people do their daily jobs.

The makers of the compelling “Frontline” documentary “A Company of Soldiers,” which airs tonight at 9 on KCET, spent the month of November 2004 with troops in south Baghdad capturing their day-to-day routine. What they discovered is that there is nothing routine about it.

WGBH, “Frontline’s” producer, has objected to PBS’ decision to distribute the documentary to affiliates in a censored format. Because profanity can be heard in several places, almost entirely in the background, the PBS affiliates received an edited satellite feed of the film in which the offending words are bleeped out (later broadcasts can take advantage of an unedited secondary feed, as KCET is doing Saturday night at 11:30). It’s a strange and regrettable choice by PBS, given that such language is not only unavoidable in the context of a documentary about soldiers fighting a war, most of it is barely audible. Sanitizing this film is ultimately an empty gesture whose only effect is to ratchet up our irritation at intrusions into the reporting of the real story in Iraq.

Its unwitting role in the latest culture war aside, “A Company of Soldiers” finds a story from Iraq worth telling. While attention was focused on the fighting in Fallouja late last fall, Dog Company, of the U.S. Army’s 8th Cavalry, was charged with keeping the main north-south Iraqi highway open and protecting senior officers. When stationed stateside, these soldiers are generally clerks, staffing offices and answering telephones. Here, they carry weapons and undertake missions into unfriendly neighborhoods.

As battalion commander Lt. Col. Jay Allen says, “My first job is to build. Only when I have to do I fight.” But the Army’s attempt to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure is hindered by the unseen dangers that regularly explode into reality.

In one early scene, for example, Capt. John Morris, a Civil Affairs officer responsible for economic development and liaising with Iraqi civilians, inspects a new indoor market being built. But we learn that months later, with locals scared to cooperate and the company distracted by military operations, the market has yet to open.

The film focuses on a small, tightly knit group within the company who call themselves the Misfits. The nine men travel in three armored Humvees performing security duties that expose them to snipers, mortar rounds and improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs. Back at nearby Camp Falcon, where the Misfits and 2,000 other soldiers are stationed, life is equally stressful because of the constant threat of attack.

The green glow of night vision renders the dusty urban landscape eerie and alien as members of the company’s Quick Response Force are dispatched to probe two large explosions near the camp.

Responding to a report of a car bombing at a Christian church, the group led by Maj. Cameron Leiker investigates the damage and then performs a house-to-house search for the insurgents responsible.

The documentary ably captures the emotional intensity after the Misfits are caught in an ambush and one of them is killed.

This is the modern Army, and not only are the men allowed to cry, it’s encouraged as a healthy way of dealing with their situation.

Throughout the film, the professionalism in which Dog Company pursues its mission is admirable.

Leiker, in particular, shows an impressive ability to process complex realities as they unfold. But in the glimpse we’re given, at least, his company’s task appears Sisyphean.

*

‘Frontline’

Where: KCET

When: 9 to 10:30 tonight; 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday

An October Films production for WGBH/Frontline and BBC. Producer Edward Jarvis. Director Tom Roberts.