Men With Green Faces (1969) is a rare military documentary that offers an inside look at elite combat training during the Cold War era. The film focuses on soldiers undergoing extreme physical and psychological preparation, including camouflage techniques, river crossings, live-fire exercises, and survival drills designed for special operations forces.
The title refers to the iconic green camouflage paint worn by trainees—symbolizing concealment, discipline, and the transformation of ordinary soldiers into highly trained combat units. Through realistic field exercises, the documentary captures the intensity, endurance, and coordination required to operate in hostile environments.
This film is a valuable historical record of military doctrine, training philosophy, and tactical preparation during the late 1960s. It stands as both a documentary and an archival snapshot of how modern special forces training evolved.
📽️ Preserved and shared for historical, educational, and archival purposes.
ℹ️ Film Details
Title: Men With Green Faces
Year: 1969
Genre: Military Documentary / Training Film
Theme: Special forces training, combat readiness, camouflage & survival
Era: Cold War
Format: Archival footage
#MenWithGreenFaces #MilitaryDocumentary #SpecialForcesTraining #ColdWarHistory #CombatTraining #MilitaryArchive #RareFootage #WarDocumentary #1960sMilitary #HistoricalDocumentary
#Documentary #RareDocumentary #WarDocumentary #TheCivilWar #VintageDocumentary #ClassicDocumentary #HistoryDocumentary #TrueCrimeDocumentary #ScienceDocumentary #RetroFilm #OldDocumentary #ForgottenFilms #ArchiveFootage #CultDocumentary #HistoricalFootage #DocVault
The title refers to the iconic green camouflage paint worn by trainees—symbolizing concealment, discipline, and the transformation of ordinary soldiers into highly trained combat units. Through realistic field exercises, the documentary captures the intensity, endurance, and coordination required to operate in hostile environments.
This film is a valuable historical record of military doctrine, training philosophy, and tactical preparation during the late 1960s. It stands as both a documentary and an archival snapshot of how modern special forces training evolved.
📽️ Preserved and shared for historical, educational, and archival purposes.
ℹ️ Film Details
Title: Men With Green Faces
Year: 1969
Genre: Military Documentary / Training Film
Theme: Special forces training, combat readiness, camouflage & survival
Era: Cold War
Format: Archival footage
#MenWithGreenFaces #MilitaryDocumentary #SpecialForcesTraining #ColdWarHistory #CombatTraining #MilitaryArchive #RareFootage #WarDocumentary #1960sMilitary #HistoricalDocumentary
#Documentary #RareDocumentary #WarDocumentary #TheCivilWar #VintageDocumentary #ClassicDocumentary #HistoryDocumentary #TrueCrimeDocumentary #ScienceDocumentary #RetroFilm #OldDocumentary #ForgottenFilms #ArchiveFootage #CultDocumentary #HistoricalFootage #DocVault
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00These men are members of one of the most unique military organizations in
00:15history. Behind these green faces are men who have accepted the challenge of
00:21some of the most daring assignments given to American fighting men. These are
00:26the Navy's SEALs.
00:48SEAL teams were organized at the suggestion of President John Kennedy, who realized that
00:54it would take special operations to win special kinds of war. For years the
01:01existence of these teams was a Defense Department secret. Now parts of their
01:07story can be told. In an age when most military engagements have become distant
01:14and impersonal, SEALs operate in the midst of the enemy. Their purpose is to disrupt
01:21his supply lines, choke his communications, learn his secrets.
01:28If you really want some exciting work, come to SEAL Team and you'll be involved in it.
01:33We're more or less of an unsung soldier in a lot of respects, because they can't write
01:37up a lot of the things we do. But I say within yourself you'll know, you'll have this
01:41person of pride that knows you was there and you did the job. After the war they'll probably
01:45write about it. But if you're in here for just getting the Bronze Star and your name on
01:50the front page, no you won't. Because they don't put our name on the front page. You'll
01:54know within yourself, you'll know what your buddies have done, you'll know our record,
01:58and you'll know what a great unit we are. You'll be there.
02:02All are volunteers from the famed frogmen of the Navy's underwater demolition team. But
02:10once out of water, most similarity with frogmen ends.
02:14We are basically an intelligence gathering unit. We gather every bit of information that's possible,
02:20whether it be a small piece of paper with some Vietnamese writing on it, or trails, boat
02:26traffic, anything that might be of real significant value to your intelligence officer when you
02:31get back.
02:42Every man's got to have the physical strength to get through the mission, and the mental
02:46strength not to waver when the going gets rough. And it gets pretty rough, pretty regularly.
02:53You've got to want it inside of here, gentlemen, I told you that. We throw things at you rather
02:59fast. You've got to react immediately. Because later on, if you don't react immediately, you
03:05will be a casualty. And you're doing us no good. We have to put you in an old pine box because
03:10you didn't use your noodle. You'll be exposed to pain and punishment and other little devices
03:17that we'll think of for one reason and one reason only. To make you the type of person
03:22we need to get the job done, no matter what the job is.
03:27These men are preparing for the grim reality of a personal war. Counter guerrilla jungle fighting
03:39and rugged hand-to-hand combat lies ahead. For this, they must stay in prime physical condition.
03:46Those who can't take it would be a liability in combat.
03:50In UDT training, they very definitely push you to your limits. In fact, beyond what you
03:58thought was your limits. It's an eye-opener. It was an eye-opener for me, I'm sure it was
04:02for most people.
04:07What training does for us is it gives us the stamina. Teaches us to know ourselves. To know
04:12that we could if we had to run for three hours, 18 miles. Know that we could move across
04:17600 meters of mud on our stomachs and be ready to fight when we get there.
04:22It's not a breeze, but I think it's more of a mental problem than it is physically.
04:27I mean, if it's a normal, average, athletic type person that has nothing physically wrong
04:32with him, then it's all up to him. If he wants UDT bad enough, he can endure the runs.
04:37They don't punish you to where you can't walk again or you don't have to swim so far
04:41that you're going to cramp up and drown.
04:44Get up. Straighten your legs, Adams. Lock your knees.
04:49You can get a great deal of confidence out of some of those obstacles over there.
04:53Physical training, certainly. You work different parts of the body on different obstacles.
04:57You work coordination, as a matter of fact, and a great deal of confidence in yourself.
05:02It's just that, well, I want UDT, and I can do all these things.
05:20And then you get a positive attitude about the training, and there's nothing they can do to make you quit.
05:25You can then do it in all the extra push-ups and the instructors hollering at you,
05:29and just take it with a grain of salt and just say, well, that's part of the program.
05:33Or just think ahead. Well, in another hour, this problem's going to be over,
05:36and I'll be back in the bags in a hot shower and a hot meal.
05:39The temperature in the shade is 193. There isn't any water and there isn't any grass.
05:46All there is a cactus and it sticks you in a glorious, glorious.
05:53One gig of beer for the four of us.
05:56Singing glory be to God that there are no more of us.
05:59For one of us could drink it all alone damn near.
06:03Booyah!
06:09Booyah!
06:11Booyah!
06:15Booyah!
06:16Booyah!
06:21SEALs are specialists in being where they are least expected.
06:38Getting to the job may mean jumping out of a boat, a helicopter, or an airplane.
06:46You have to want this type of duty in order to survive this training.
06:53Some people, I suppose, want to prove something to themselves.
06:57Some people, maybe, they want to prove something to somebody else.
07:02I think it's the psychological aspect, the hardship while you're doing all this.
07:06In other words, you think about things a little bit differently, you start realizing that probably
07:11one of the greatest things you ever had was just sitting in a warm room with a cup of
07:14coffee.
07:15You just don't know how much you can appreciate something like that.
07:18It prepares you well for when you go in combat, you learn that a little rain's not going to
07:22hurt you, a little mud's not going to hurt you.
07:25You don't like it, but you learn that you can live with it.
07:28Okay, this morning, gentlemen, we're going to take up what was known in the teams as an Emerson
07:39scuba rig.
07:41This means that it is a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.
07:46This rig is used any type of clandescent or sneak attack operations.
07:53It is desirable for this use because of the fact that there are no bubbles coming out of
07:58this rig when it is submerged.
08:00If we can have you step up here, sir, we'll slip you into it.
08:16few jobs in the navy require more mature judgments to be made almost instantaneously
08:24in a combat zone these decisions can mean the difference between the success
08:29and failure of a mission between life and death
08:38our type of training now of course it includes diving and demolition work and parachuting
08:43and very extensive weapon training and tactics training so our people are well qualified or
08:51maybe even the most qualified troop there is
09:04stand in the door
09:05where are you close it up tight close it up tight go get up and out get up and out get up and out
09:25and you put that shoot on your stomach starts getting hard your first jump especially
09:36they say hook up check static line check your equipment the word comes to stand in the door
09:42and i was i was scared
09:47it was a thrill it was challenging if not everybody's going to get up and jump out of a perfectly good
09:52plane why i don't know every seal is trained in parachuting floating down from the sky is a good
10:01way of getting to a patrol area unannounced seals learn jump techniques with army paratroops at fort
10:08benning georgia bullet deep one he's coming down he's coming down like a feather what is he
10:22all right get on your feet jumper on arm four prepare for enormous lift to your front to your
10:27front four your other front four drop four jumper on arm three prepare for enormous lift to your
10:35you get to the door and you leave it's it's one motion as opposed to being there for a couple of minutes
10:41you exit you can feel the shoot coming out of the bag off my back the pack
10:46then as the prop blast hits the shoot you can really feel the tug you look up if your risers
10:52aren't crossed they're crossed you've got to uncross them by pulling them apart
10:57the harness which is uncomfortable as anything can be when you're wearing it on the ground
11:03is uh like a chair in the sky and you just float down
11:19once you leave the door and you're out in the air then it's the greatest thing in the world because
11:22you know you've done it you know that you didn't have to be pushed out the door you did this thing
11:26on your own you're still apprehensive every jump because those thoughts always run through my mind what
11:31am i doing up in this airplane why do i want to jump out of this airplane when i know it's going to
11:35land but then once it's time to hook up and go then it's just hell i'd love it as you approach the
11:42ground on there's a man in a bullhorn saying take a prepare to land attitude grab your risers take a
11:48slip into the wind so you're trying to stand still this is now bend your knees point your toes
11:54chin up eyes and horizon after your first one you're ready to jump the next four
12:01the seals call this halo high altitude low opening for seals a means of silent entry to the enemy's
12:24territory
12:38before deployment to a combat zone seal squads practice together the way it will be over there
12:58you never say anything on patrol from the time you leave that boat or the helicopter or however you're
13:03getting inserted to the time you get back you don't even open your mouth we teach them hand and arm
13:09signals in in cadre training it doesn't make any difference what type of signal you do use as long
13:14as everybody knows it to bring back information that will help reveal the enemy's story seals must be
13:22alert every minute an intelligence officer can do so much more with little facts than you have any idea of
13:31if he can find out for instance that there is large amounts of rice being moved down a river
13:36then he knows there are either people down there needing food or that there will be people down there soon
13:42when he adds this to other bits of information he's found out well a pattern of enemy activity begins to develop
13:58all the techniques they have learned are brought to bear in this realistic training
14:09as individuals they learn to function together
14:11they become a team
14:22Oh, no, no, no, no.
14:52to it a certain amount of glamour to being a member of what we consider without question
14:59the best best troops in the country has i think we're such a highly specialized group of people
15:05that we're in great demand there's just not enough of us to go around i think our record speaks for
15:11itself 70 or 80 bronze stars and numerous purple hearts and silver stars a couple of those and
15:17legion of merits and the words have been just numerous as far as i'm concerned each and every
15:23one of them are highly deserved and i think it comes from teamwork togetherness
15:31thing that motivates a lot of people is that again it is a challenge to a young man it is
15:38we feel and we are proud of the fact that we're one of the most highly trained efficient small units
15:43that there is in any service and i think it's the pride factor that motivates kids to volunteer
15:50for sales is just knowing that they're going to be in one of the most elite specialized trained units
15:55there is now this is my own personal feeling that's the reason why i stay in it i have another
16:00eight years to do in the navy and i'm going to spend it in silkson
16:14working on the land in other lands means using another language for men who go to southeast asia
16:44the vietnamese language is a necessity
16:47well our primary job is to gather intelligence we don't go in to kill charlie we're going to
17:13capture him and uh well we always tell him in his own language with a few words that we know in
17:19vietnamese things like stop surrender come here get your hands up you're surrounded it's this type of
17:26thing see the three short phrases that we use are dong lie which means stop lie day which means come here
17:37and uh dd which is sort of a slang vietnamese phrase that means uh you know get the hell out of here move out
17:43as often as possible forays on the ground are planned with a look from above
17:58the war in southeast asia is an unusual kind of war there are no front lines here
18:04the elusive enemy can appear as villagers or farmers to find out what is going on in unfriendly territory
18:13it takes men on the ground okay men this is a warning order for tonight's mission
18:18uh the mission tonight is going to be an ambush careful consideration of every eventuality
18:23has led to a specific plan for this patrol every phase of the mission has been thought through
18:30that platoon leader has a tremendous amount of load on his back a lot of people think well the
18:36squad leader he's just a man that gives the orders but while everybody else is sitting around uh
18:41shooting a bull and that man's getting the mission order he's got four or five hours of work to do he's
18:46got to coordinate everything his artillery uh his airstrikes uh uh what is what kind of support is
18:52he going to have available he gets it all set up uh he works four or five hours before the people even
18:58get the word on it just done as a warning order the uh one primary danger area which we know about is
19:04this bridge you can see what it looks like here it's just a wooden bridge hard top all right our actions
19:10at this danger area will be as follows we will come to this point we'll be patrolling down here on our
19:16file we will stop short of the bridge we have the cave builders being inserted from everything from
19:33submarines to big-sling aircraft but essentially the terrain is going to tell you whether or not you're
19:39going to use a helicopter or a pbr most of the men feel that name seal team is what carries your real
19:48reward you can give a medal out for 50 60 percent of the missions we go on since you can't have that
19:54many medals and the value of being a seal i think is what they're really concerned with the actual
20:00medal they present to you at the end of a tour is a more of a token value i think
20:17if you don't have the element of surprise you're lost you won't come out of the mission you have to
20:21have the element of surprise all the time as soon as you're compromised as soon as they know you're
20:25there you're in trouble and you have to be on the way out if you've got a long way to go and in a
20:29particular hostile area you won't make it out you're swimming across streams very frequently on long
20:43patrol you might swim 15 streams or more it is not unusual at all and these will range anywhere from a few
20:50feet to uh maybe 50 yards this is carrying your all of your weapons and ammunition and it can become
20:59somewhat of a trouble especially for radio men or machine gunner there's quite a few guys that like
21:04the element of danger the element of surprise in fact the only thing that really limits us is the
21:09imagination on the part of the people that assign us targets the philosophy i use is there isn't an
21:15impossible mission really i think people just want to be with the best group they've already made it to
21:27udt and they know that if they have the mental attitude they can be seals and be right with the
21:32top doing the most exciting things and be treated as the elite i think a lot of people join the seal team
21:39uh to be with with a group that can fight well and still be part of the navy what it is is i guess
21:47is a prestige of being the top man you know all the time you're going to be called to do the hardest job
21:54the job that nobody else will take we insist on very physically fit people also a person that is
22:01mentally stable to be able to do the things we do because everything we do has a certain amount of risk
22:08involved in it and it has to be a person that accepts it's not a thrill seeker not just a young
22:12kid that wants a bunch of thrills of jumping out of an airplane or this type of thing but
22:17one that expects danger and and knows how to handle it and how to live with it because it's still
22:22team you do live with danger and it's part of your life
22:25in vietnam seals have learned that prisoners are a good source of information on the enemy's situation
22:40and intentions one prisoner can provide information that may lead to the capture of many more
22:55so
23:02so
23:06so
23:16Oh, my God.
23:46After many hours ashore, mud-soaked SEALs relax.
23:58New information will be pieced together with existing intelligence, the pattern of enemy
24:03activity brought up to date.
24:08Often a SEAL patrol returns with word of unsuspected enemy activity, the location of new campsites
24:15or knowledge of enemy movement on an infiltration route.
24:23Troops are alerted.
24:26Boatloads move up the river to strike back.
24:28Armed Navy patrol boats and gunship helicopters answer the challenge.
24:43vens.'"
24:44air
24:47산
24:53vapor
24:56air
24:57air
24:57air
24:57air
24:58air
24:58air
24:59air
25:00Oh, my God.
25:30Oh, my God.
26:00Many military engagements are based on information the SEALs have brought back.
26:30Continuing the tradition of bold men who go behind the enemy's lines, SEALs work, as
26:36they say, in Charlie's backyard.
26:40Their success depends on their being where they are not expected.
26:43For their dedication to duty, SEALs have become some of the most decorated fighting men in
26:56history.
26:56The award citations retell some of their exploits.
27:03On one occasion, while conducting a clandestine combat patrol through hostile terrain, the
27:09mission was to capture Viet Cong in order to gain intelligence on enemy supply movements
27:15in the area.
27:17The patrol stopped while the forward security element was sent out to reconnoiter a bridge
27:21the patrol would cross.
27:24A Viet Cong ambush team had moved in to set an ambush at the crossing point.
27:30The point man sensed it and charged their position, repeatedly moving without cover, leaving himself
27:36vulnerable to enemy fire.
27:37His aggressiveness and quick thinking saved his patrol from suffering heavy casualties.
27:46Ribbons and medals represent the accomplishment of exceptional deeds, but awards are not the reason
28:08for performance and combat.
28:12What these men are, and what they represent, has sustained them and given them their purpose.
28:38And the theme of the team is aper to defeat them.
28:40Com again and under investigation.
28:43It's big & fatal Orb until i will serve the combat area of the quest,catatatsabilly.
28:59I'll wait, have a descent to ship to catch the Panzer from the quest, and the nextвержgression
Be the first to comment