Rodrigo Jose Samodal

LDS 102

Charles Powell

April 10, 2016

Lone Survivor

Teamwork is a key element to success. It is especially vital in the military and the fight for survival. Every group or squad of soldiers is comprised of different individuals with unique talents and characteristics, but they all share one common goal. How well these soldiers function as a unit will determine how successful they all are. But every group is different nonetheless.

In the film “Lone Survivor,” a Navy SEAL Team led by Marcus Luttrell is dispatched to initiate counter-insurgent action against Taliban leader Ahmad Shah in Afghanistan. They’re mission was to find and kill Shah, which required being inserted into the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. However, they’re communication difficulties provided a major problem for the mission, and after being discovered by a group of herders, they are compromised. Soon after, they are found by a large group of Taliban forces. After managing to fight off a few initial soldiers, the Navy SEAL team finds themselves largely outnumbered and overwhelmed, and each soldier sustains serious injuries. However, they continue to fight, protecting one another while fighting to survive. These men care and fight together to survive. They are brothers together.

The Navy SEAL team in lone “Survivor” is very similar to the Army Rangers in “Saving Private Ryan.” Both groups were given a single mission to complete, and each soldier had specific tasks and each had unique characteristics and personalities. In whole, both groups of soldiers did what they had to do to fight for their mission and for their lives, but the individual relationships between members of each group differed. The Navy SEAL team had a much more deep-seated relationship with one another than the Army Ranger team. The Navy SEAL team members have been fighting together for years, just as the Army Ranger team has as well, but the Navy SEALs were much closer in their personal lives and bonds. The Army Rangers fought together, but knew little about one another aside from the stories they have shared over their years together. The Army Rangers team had tensions within the squad, which eventually surmounted to conflict. The Navy SEALs also met conflict with one another, but were able to put all of it aside and pull together.

Teamwork is essential for success in any group. All members of the group must contribute to the group effort to achieve the goal. And the relationship between the members of the group affect how well the group works together. The Navy SEAL team in the film “Lone Survivor” had stronger interpersonal connections than the Army Ranger team in the film “Saving Private Ryan” and did not find as much conflict within the group. They had a stronger bond as brothers and fought with and for one another.

Citation

Lone Survivor. Dir. Peter Berg. Prod. Peter Berg, Sarah Aubrey, Randall Emmet            Herrick, Barry Spikings, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, and Vitaly Grigoriants. By Peter Berg. Perf. Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Eric Bana. Lone Survivor. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.