Schedule

In 1939, a group of scientists--Albert Einstein among them--warned FDR of the possibility that Hitler's Germany might be close to producing an atomic bomb. Roosevelt issued an order--the US had to be the first to develop an atomic bomb and within three years they were well on their way to creating a hidden world of secret cities and classified nuclear facilities. Six decades later, we return to the once-classified sites where the course of history was decided. In top secret cities and nuclear facilities, we uncover and rebuild this lost world in three top-secret cities in isolated parts of Tennessee, New Mexico, and Washington State. This was to be the most costly and labor-intensive engineering program ever undertaken. Using classified material, eyewitness testimony, and cutting-edge graphic technology, we recreate the secret world of the Manhattan Project.

In this one-hour special, host R. Lee Ermey goes to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the home of the mighty B-52 bomber. Here the base motto is "Only the best come north," so the Gunny is right there with the Bomber Barons who've invited him to go for a spin and party with cruise missiles and JDams. Lee goes into the history of the B-52 from its first delivery in the 1950s to the vital role it played during the Cold War and the remarkable fact that it's still the heavy bomber used in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Next, we get a close look at all the toys that fly with the B-52, like air launch cruise missiles carrying conventional and nuclear war heads, and JDAMS - Joint Direct Attack Munitions. And finally, Lee roars off for a 5-hour flight in a B-52 with Gunny riding shotgun. With a crew of five, Lee goes on a real training run - dubbed "Operation Mail Call."

Known affectionately as "Uncle Billy" by Union soldiers, but reviled in the South as a brutal war criminal, General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the truly enigmatic and complex figures in the American pantheon. His legacy was built during a five-week campaign of terror and destruction that would become known as "total war". Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, destroy railroads, pilfer food supplies and to make sure the South's civilian infrastructure was shattered. Although the concept had been around for centuries, this is the first time in modern warfare that total war was used to such an extensive degree. First Savannah was captured, and then he marched from Georgia through South Carolina and burned the capital to the ground. On the heels of Sherman's destructive onslaughts, the Confederacy officially conceded victory to the Union on April 9, 1865.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

In this one-hour special, host R. Lee Ermey goes to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the home of the mighty B-52 bomber. Here the base motto is "Only the best come north," so the Gunny is right there with the Bomber Barons who've invited him to go for a spin and party with cruise missiles and JDams. Lee goes into the history of the B-52 from its first delivery in the 1950s to the vital role it played during the Cold War and the remarkable fact that it's still the heavy bomber used in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Next, we get a close look at all the toys that fly with the B-52, like air launch cruise missiles carrying conventional and nuclear war heads, and JDAMS - Joint Direct Attack Munitions. And finally, Lee roars off for a 5-hour flight in a B-52 with Gunny riding shotgun. With a crew of five, Lee goes on a real training run - dubbed "Operation Mail Call."

Known affectionately as "Uncle Billy" by Union soldiers, but reviled in the South as a brutal war criminal, General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the truly enigmatic and complex figures in the American pantheon. His legacy was built during a five-week campaign of terror and destruction that would become known as "total war". Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, destroy railroads, pilfer food supplies and to make sure the South's civilian infrastructure was shattered. Although the concept had been around for centuries, this is the first time in modern warfare that total war was used to such an extensive degree. First Savannah was captured, and then he marched from Georgia through South Carolina and burned the capital to the ground. On the heels of Sherman's destructive onslaughts, the Confederacy officially conceded victory to the Union on April 9, 1865.

In 1939, a group of scientists--Albert Einstein among them--warned FDR of the possibility that Hitler's Germany might be close to producing an atomic bomb. Roosevelt issued an order--the US had to be the first to develop an atomic bomb and within three years they were well on their way to creating a hidden world of secret cities and classified nuclear facilities. Six decades later, we return to the once-classified sites where the course of history was decided. In top secret cities and nuclear facilities, we uncover and rebuild this lost world in three top-secret cities in isolated parts of Tennessee, New Mexico, and Washington State. This was to be the most costly and labor-intensive engineering program ever undertaken. Using classified material, eyewitness testimony, and cutting-edge graphic technology, we recreate the secret world of the Manhattan Project.

In this one-hour special, host R. Lee Ermey goes to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the home of the mighty B-52 bomber. Here the base motto is "Only the best come north," so the Gunny is right there with the Bomber Barons who've invited him to go for a spin and party with cruise missiles and JDams. Lee goes into the history of the B-52 from its first delivery in the 1950s to the vital role it played during the Cold War and the remarkable fact that it's still the heavy bomber used in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Next, we get a close look at all the toys that fly with the B-52, like air launch cruise missiles carrying conventional and nuclear war heads, and JDAMS - Joint Direct Attack Munitions. And finally, Lee roars off for a 5-hour flight in a B-52 with Gunny riding shotgun. With a crew of five, Lee goes on a real training run - dubbed "Operation Mail Call."

Known affectionately as "Uncle Billy" by Union soldiers, but reviled in the South as a brutal war criminal, General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the truly enigmatic and complex figures in the American pantheon. His legacy was built during a five-week campaign of terror and destruction that would become known as "total war". Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, destroy railroads, pilfer food supplies and to make sure the South's civilian infrastructure was shattered. Although the concept had been around for centuries, this is the first time in modern warfare that total war was used to such an extensive degree. First Savannah was captured, and then he marched from Georgia through South Carolina and burned the capital to the ground. On the heels of Sherman's destructive onslaughts, the Confederacy officially conceded victory to the Union on April 9, 1865.

Brandishing the stealth and cunning of a modern-day Special Forces operation, the Los Ba os raid is regarded as one of the most successful airborne raids of all time. On February 23, 1945, a combined force of US paratroopers, Filipino guerrillas, and amphibious tanks liberated over 2,000 POWs who faced a potential massacre by their Japanese captors. In this 2-hour special, we return to the Los Ba os Prison Camp with four soldiers who took part in the rescue and one of the liberated prisoners.

Mixing real-life locations, archival battle footage, and 21st-century animation, we tell the story of history's greatest conflicts. Viewers are taken inside the tunnels of Iwo Jima to tell the story of this pivotal WWII battle from both the US and Japanese soldiers' viewpoint.

How can the Marines' 26-ton AAV (Amphibious Assault Vehicle) stay afloat? Can a jeep float? How did medieval battering rams work? What types of tactics do the military use for urban warfare? Who were the guys who fired guns from the bubbles underneath WWII bombers? What's the story behind all those pictures of girls and other stuff drawn on WWII airplanes? R. Lee Ermey sends these viewers' questions to military experts in the field for explanations and short demonstrations.

R. Lee Ermey sends viewer questions to military experts for answers and demonstrations. Go aboard the Coast Guard's latest and greatest--the multi-purpose 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB); find out which and how many ships comprise a carrier battle group; learn why we call a tank a tank and not a toilet, and why the Sherman was considered a deathtrap; get a look at the M-16's replacement, the futuristic XM-29 rifle; and hear how WWII V-mail didn't talk, but kept letters flowing from the front to home.