Combat Missions
Combat Missions is an American reality television series produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by former Survivor castaway Rudy Boesch that aired from January 16 to April 17, 2002 on the USA Network. It pits four teams of highly experienced military and police operatives against each other in physical challenges and "mission" scenarios. Each team has a call sign and corresponding color. The four teams are Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. The team members were past and present members of SWAT, the United States Army Special Forces, the Navy SEALs, Marine Recon, the CIA Special Operations Group, Delta Force, and the U.S. Army Rangers. The mission scenarios has each team face off against the opposing "Shadow force" using MILES gear in real-life combat situations. The show was not picked up for a second season.
Scott Helvenston, one of the contestants from the Delta team went on to work for Blackwater USA in Iraq after the show and was killed in action on March 31, 2004.
Competition
The four squads in the competition are all unique.Alpha Squad: The young guns mainly with SEAL backgrounds.
Bravo Squad: Urban assault consisting mainly of SWAT cops.
Charlie Squad: The "Over the Hill" club. Majority of the teammates are in their 40s and one in their 50s.
Delta Squad: The oddballs including prankster Rod Nutter and Baz who works for the CIA.
Each of the four squads starts the competition with six players. The 15-week contest—each week referred to as an "Evolution"—is split into three rounds. During each evolution two squads are chosen to go head to head, first in a training exercise and then in a combat mission.
At the start of each evolution, all four squads are required to fall in formation when ordered and to report that each squad member is present. Rudy Boesch will then tell them which two squads are going head to head during that evolution and may even add some additional information such as the weather condition for the day or a brief introduction of any new team members that have joined the squad.
Training exercises are usually physical challenges, including climbing, swimming, running and shooting. The winning squad receives extra points towards that week's mission.
The combat mission pits those two same squads into separate but identical situations against "Shadow Squad", who are also highly trained, in a combat-like scenario, some military in nature, some SWAT-related. Both squads start out with 1000 points, plus whatever point bonus was earned by the winner of the training mission. Points are then deducted for team members killed during the mission and time taken in the mission itself. Failure to complete all mandatory objectives, or the death of all team members results in a "total mission failure." There may be additional objectives given during the mission and will result in further point deductions if not completed.
After both squads have a run at the mission, they will be summoned to the briefing room where their results will be scored. Whichever squad has the most points wins and their squad stays intact. The losing squad will have 10 minutes to pack their gear and report to the discharge room.
For the first twelve evolutions, the team with the lower score was obligated to discharge a teammate. The choice for discharge would be selected either by vote or, in case of a tie or refusal, drawing swords until one man pulls one with a red tip; that man would be discharged. For the first six evolutions, the teammate who is being discharged will stay in the discharge room while the rest of the team headed into the dossier room to select a replacement. The squad has 10 minutes to decide on whom to select. From evolution 7-10, lost players were no longer replaced, severely weakening the losing squads. If a team member from any squad during Evolutions 7-10 has an injury or illness that prevents him from continuing in the competition, they may voluntarily be discharged and the squad can go into the dossier room to find a replacement. During the last phase, the entire losing squad was kicked off in order to determine the overall winning squad. After that squad was selected, it was split into two teams of 3 who faced off. From those 3 remaining players one was eliminated in a Training Exercise, and the final two faced off in a mission in order to select the Combat Missions individual champion.
During the discharge ceremony at the end of each evolution, the three squads fell in formation. The remaining squad members of the losing squad assemble up front waiting for their discharged teammate to exit the discharge room. Once the discharged teammate comes out of the room, Rudy Boesch commends him and renders him a salute and officially dismisses him from the camp. His teammates also say goodbye to him as he walks out. A vehicle will pull up outside the camp gates to collect him. During evolutions 1-6, the same vehicle will drop off a teammate whom the losing squad chose in the dossier room. Evolutions 7-10 will have the vehicle collect the discharged teammate only. Evolutions 11-13 will have 2 vehicles pull up to collect the discharged squad and evolutions 14 and 15 will have a vehicle that will collect the losing teammates from the championship squad until 2 are left.
When the new teammate enters the camp, he will immediately go to Rudy to report for duty. Rudy welcomes him and tells him which squad he is assigned to. Then the order to fall out is given which concludes the discharge ceremony and this officially ends each evolution.
Contestants
| Name | Team | Background | Notes |
| Mark Jackson | Alpha | SWAT | Whole-Team Discharge |
| Scott Oates | Alpha | Navy SEALs | Whole-Team Discharge |
| Mell Spicer | Alpha | Navy SEALs | Whole-Team Discharge |
| Daniel Patrick O'Shea | Alpha | Navy SEALs | Voted Off No Replacement |
| Frank Monestere | Alpha | Special Forces | Voted Off Replaced by Eric Johnson |
| Chris Pate | Alpha | SWAT | Voted Off Replaced by Harald Zundel |
| Harald Zundel | Alpha | Navy SEALs | Replaced Pate ; Whole-Team Discharge |
| Eric Johnson | Alpha | Navy SEALs | Replaced Monestere ; Voted Off No Replacement |
| Dexter Fletcher | Bravo | SWAT | Combat Missions Champion |
| Jeff Byers | Bravo | Navy SEALs | Third Place, lost the marksmanship challenge |
| Steve Claggett | Bravo | SWAT | Lost the three-on-three team challenge |
| Mark Corwin | Bravo | Marine Force Recon | Lost the three-on-three team challenge |
| Bob Kain | Bravo | SWAT | Second Place, lost against Fletcher |
| Sean Sirker | Bravo | Special Forces | Replaced Taylor ; Lost the three-on-three team challenge |
| Jody Taylor | Bravo | SWAT | Medical Discharge Replaced by Sean Sirker |
| Cade Courtley | Charlie | Navy SEALs | Replaced Potter ; Whole-Team Discharge |
| Ken Greaves | Charlie | Navy SEALs | Whole-Team Discharge |
| Justin Young | Charlie | Marine Recon | Whole-Team Discharge |
| Jeff Everage | Charlie | Navy SEALs | Drew Red-Tipped Sword Replaced by Wilson Wong |
| John Potter | Charlie | Navy SEALs | Voted Off Replaced by Cade Courtley |
| Edward Bugarin | Charlie | Special Forces, Delta Force | Voted Off Replaced by Jonathan Weber |
| Wilson Wong | Charlie | SWAT | Replaced Everage ; Discharged Self No Replacement |
| Ossie Crenshaw | Charlie | SWAT | Voted Off No Replacement |
| Jonathan Weber | Charlie | Marine Force Recon | Replaced Bugarin ; Whole-Team Discharge |
| Baz | Delta | CIA/US Marines | Whole-Team Discharge |
| George Ciganik | Delta | Marine Recon, SWAT | Replaced Teeple ; Whole-Team Discharge |
| Scott Helvenston | Delta | Navy SEALs | Whole-Team Discharge |
| Rodney Nutter | Delta | Marine Force Recon | Whole-Team Discharge |
| John Winn | Delta | Marine Force Recon | Whole-Team Discharge |
| William Nissen | Delta | Army Rangers | Replaced Estadt ; Whole-Team Discharge |
| Rod Teeple | Delta | Navy SEALs | Discharged Self Replaced by George Ciganik |
| Garth Estadt | Delta | Special Forces | Medical Discharge Replaced by William Nissen |
The following is a list of contestants from the "Dossier Room" who never got picked to play:
| Name | Background |
| John Barnes | SWAT |
| Carey Lasiter | Delta Force |
| Patrick Miller | SWAT |
| Benjamin Victor | Marine Force Recon |
| Keith Vinski | Navy SEALs |
| Howard Wasdin | Navy SEALs |
Round 1: Episodes 1-6
Evolution 1: Tank Takeout
Bravo vs. CharliePrior to the competition, all squads underwent physical training. Started off with a 3-mile run, followed by a 2-lap rucksack run around the base, and then as many pullups they can do.
Training Exercise: Log Carry From Hell
Both teams must carry a 500-pound log around an obstacle course. Every 15 minutes, each team must drop a man. The first team to drop the log loses.
Winner: Bravo
Mission: Tank Takeout
Objective is to destroy the tank with an explosive device. Both teams will be inserted via helicopter and make their way on foot to the tank and then plant the explosive device to destroy the tank. Surviving members will then make their way to the extraction point for helicopter extract.
Charlie got ambushed early but were able to fend off the initial assault with no casualties. As they got near the tank Young was killed when two shadow squad members emerged from a bunker. Krenshaw and Greaves were killed as they approached the tank but Everadge was able to take out the two members inside the tank. Everadge was then killed as he tried to approach the tank. Potter was then killed as he planted the explosive charges leaving Bugarin the lone survivor.
Early into the mission, Bravo lost one SEAL and one Marine but the remaining four SWAT cops on the team were able to complete the mission despite the mission being SEAL in nature.
In the Dossier room, Charlie struggled to select a teammate to discharge prompting Rudy Boesch to issue them an ultimatum: Five minutes to choose a member to discharge or draw swords. Charlie eventually decided to draw swords resulting in Jeff Everage's discharge.
| Teams | Into Mission | Dead | Time | Score | Result |
| Bravo | 1025 | -200 | -175 | 650 | WINNERS |
| Charlie | 1000 | -250 | -180 | 570 | Lose Everage, gain Wong |