Having survived its first trial by fire, Bravo presses forward, awaiting orders for a new recon mission. Scoping out a roadside hamlet, the company watches in horror and disbelief as a regimental combat team arrives with guns firing and the hamlet is obliterated. On new orders, Bravo heads to the town of Ar Rifa, where Fick tries to take control of a dangerous situation created by "Encino Man," who requests an artillery strike on a phantom RPG team. After Alpha Company shells the town, Ferrando issues a new, more urgent order, push ahead 40 kilometers and capture an airfield controlled by Iraqi Republican Guard and defended by tanks. The trip is slowed when a supply truck is hit by friendly fire from reservists, prompting Ferrando to order it abandoned. Disturbed by Alpha's slow progress on foot and in need of reconnaissance before British paratroopers hit the airfield, Godfather orders Bravo to trek through the night and get to the strip, treating all Iraqis as hostile. Trombley takes the order to heart and fires, later discovering he shot two Iraqi boys and their camels. Bravo ends up taking the airfield without a single casualty, though "Captain America" does his best to cripple its abandoned hangars, and orders an impossible strike on some remote civilian huts. The boys wounded by Trombley are delivered to "Godfather's" tent by Doc Bryan and team leaders, who hope to get them cas-evaced to a trauma unit. After giving compelling reasons why such an evacuation is impossible, "Godfather" ultimately approves the request. Trombley is told he should prepare for an investigation, but expresses concern only over the fate of Colbert, who had given him orders to fire.

As they scope a tiny hamlet, the men of Bravo are frustrated by the capricious nature of the war, and Colbert struggles to defend the actions of the higher-ups. First Recon finally gets a chance to use its skills and exploit some intelligence from Iraqi locals about an ambush at a bridge ahead. For once, First Recon isn't tasked with heading straight into the ambush, but instead they rest and watch as better-armed LAVs assault the bridge. With the ambush believed to be quelled, Colbert's team is ordered to lead Bravo across the bridge. They quickly discover that the enemy combatants still have some fight in them, but led by Colbert, they manage to escape almost unscathed. After regrouping, Bravo is ordered to cross the bridge again - this time with Bravo 3 in the lead - and again hits a snag. The following morning, First Recon examines the bodies of the men they fought the night before and discover their enemy is not who they imagined. Bravo continues north to Al Muwaffaqiyah, where they are tasked with another mission: Set up another roadblock and destroy the Republican Guard outpost, which happens to be the town's only school. Despite Colbert's exhortations to the men to hold their fire unless it's absolutely necessary, Bravo has an incident at the roadblock. As they again head north, the inexactitude of the war weighs heavily on the men.