MIGHTY MOVIES

Special Forces veterans were the most important part of 'Triple Frontier'

If you haven't given Triple Frontier a go on Netflix, you definitely should. If you're unfamiliar, the story follows five Special Forces veterans who travel to a multi-bordered region of South America to take money from a drug lord. It stars Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, and Garrett Hedlund, who all do a fantastic job capturing the attitudes of their characters. But one thing especially helped make this film feel realistic: the presence of Special Forces veterans.

While Hollywood productions generally do have military advisors, it isn't necessarily common that those advisors take the time to work with the cast to really nail down things like tactics and weapons handling. In this case, J.C. Chandor had two Special Forces veterans who did just that — Nick John and Kevin Vance.

Here's why they were the most important part of the production:

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MIGHTY CULTURE

This is why grunts should keep a journal

It may not seem like a big deal but it could help you in ways you never thought.

Grunts may not pass literacy tests with flying colors, but it definitely isn't any indication they're not intelligent creatures. The infantry is full of different types of people with different ideologies and perspectives. Collectively, we can even develop philosophies based on our experience with the job. But what some of us don't think about is recording the thoughts and ideas that bounce around inside our heads.

Keeping a journal is more than just a method of remembering events that go on in your life. Writing down your thoughts and ideas could actually help you develop your mental strength as a warrior. Additionally, there are other benefits that come with doing this, beyond just keeping track of the one thing your First Sergeant did today that really pissed you off.

Here's why grunts should keep a journal:

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MIGHTY GAMING

This is what class an infantry rifleman would be in a tabletop RPG

A Marine Rifleman is a jack of all trades. While our job is to focus on closing with and destroying the enemy, it doesn't stop us from learning the basics of other jobs. Some times, sure, it's to fill up training time slots but, why not learn how to use machine guns or mortars? Learning a little bit of everything is exactly why the infantry rifleman would fall under the class of "fighter" when it comes to table-top RPGs.

"Fighters learn the basics of all combat styles..." Is a sentence you'll find if you look at the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook if you look under the class of "Fighter." The writers of the handbook may not have intended for this sentence to also describe the Marine Corps' main attack force but, it does a nice job of summing it up. But we're not going to stop there.

Here's why the infantry rifleman would be a fighter:

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MIGHTY CULTURE

March is Marine Infantry Month, here's how to celebrate

It's not exactly a national holiday... yet.

Okay, okay. Marines are arrogant; we get it. So, maybe we don't need to dedicate an entire month to one of the finest fighting forces on the planet. Maybe doing so will simply add fuel to their egotistical fire. But the fact is that Infantry Marines are some of the best, most badass creatures on the planet, and we're going celebrate them however we damn-well want.

Luckily, for the celebratory folks among us, the Marine Corps' MOS codes have given us a pretty easy-to-follow structure. So, we're officially declaring that March be Marine Infantry Month, and we're marking the following days on our calendars to celebrate each of the many Marine Corps Infantry sub-cultures.

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MIGHTY CULTURE

No, being a grunt won't doom you after you get out

The idea that grunts don't learn any valuable skills in the military is a huge misconception. Let's talk about that.

So, you're nearing the end of your glorious time in the military, but you spent it all as a door-kicking, window-licking, crayon-eating grunt. Your command is breathing down your neck about your "plan" for when you get out. You realized two years ago that there aren't any civilian jobs where you're training to sling lead and reap souls all the while refining your elite janitorial skills. What are you going to do?

A lot of us grunts wondered this before getting out. But, the idea that you didn't learn any real, valuable skills in the infantry is a huge misconception. You actually learned quite a bit that civilian employers might find extremely useful for their businesses. Aside from security, you can take a lot of what you learned as a grunt and use it to make yourself an asset in the civilian workforce.

Here is why you're not doomed:

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MIGHTY CULTURE

A leukemia survivor just became a Marine and it's amazing

Michael Campofiori faced down leukemia, military rejection, and finally the challenge of Marine Corps boot camp. By overcoming all these, he embodies the very spirit of being a Marine.

Deciding to be a Marine means you have to accept the challenges that you'll have to face along the way. Earning that Eagle, Globe, and Anchor is no easy task. To become a Marine, you have to be willing to stare every challenge straight in the eye and say, "I got this." That's what it means to be a Marine. That is the very quality at the core of every person who becomes one. This is no exception for Michael Campofiori, one of the Corps' newest Marines — and a survivor of leukemia.

According to the American Cancer Society, patients with childhood leukemia very rarely survive after five years. This disease is a monster of a challenge for anyone to overcome, and it's a tragedy for any child to have to experience. That didn't stop Michael Campofiori from wanting to become a Marine, despite being diagnosed at age 11.

This would be his first challenge on a path of many:

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MIGHTY CULTURE

Here are the major lessons I learned from carrying the M27

Following the rulebook isn't always a necessity. Well, that's how the Marine Corps infantry feels about doctrine, anyway. Sure, there are hundreds of people who put their great minds together to come up with standard procedures for everything relating to warfare, but even still, us grunts take those "procedures" as suggestions. Why? Simple. We recognize that what may work for one unit doesn't work for everyone.

This is the case with the fire team billet of "automatic rifleman." The position is supposed to be held by the team leader's second in command, usually a trusted advisor who can help run the team. But, over the years, Marines thought of a better person to hold the billet: boots. New guys. The FNGs. While some higher-ups might see this as hazing, the down-and-dirty, crayon-eating grunts disagree.

We argue that being an automatic rifleman teaches you these valuable lessons:

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MIGHTY TACTICAL

Watch how bulletproof these 'Star Wars' inspired helmets are

The DevTac Ronin Helmet is cool, but is it bulletproof?

Military equipment is notoriously cheap and can sometimes fall short of expectations when in the hands of the dirt-eating grunts who use them the most. But, every once in a while, a company comes by and makes something that not only lives up to its potential, but manages to make its way into the hearts of troops everywhere (things as wonderful as the M27 are few and far between). So, when DevTac developed the Ronin Kevlar Level IIIA Tactical Ballistic Helmet, we wondered how effective it really was.

Thankfully, Dr. Matt Carriker, a veterinarian and fellow gun enthusiast, put the helmet to the test on his YouTube channel, Demolition Ranch. We've covered a previous video of his where he tested Army helmets, seeing just how bulletproof they really are, but does this Boba-Fett-looking helmet stand up to the test?

Let's find out!

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MIGHTY GAMING

5 of the best Call of Duty games from the past decade

Call of Duty has become a staple of military gamers. Both casual and hardcore gamers can enjoy picking up a controller and going a few rounds with their buddies in the barracks while waiting for their command to tell them it's time to clean weapons at the armory or reorganize that connex container. While it's a great pastime, there are plenty of titles to choose from, and not all of them are as good as the others.

Since the first release in 2003, Call of Duty has been the title of around 15 video games with the most recent being Black Ops 4, and there is another one on the way later this year. While a lot of people enjoy the multiplayer in the game, the franchise has also done a great job with storytelling in several of its installments.

It's tough to choose from the 15 title roster, so we're going to look at titles from the past decade that gave us a great story to play:

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