In the northern desert of Kuwait, the elite, specially trained U.S. First Recon Marines prepare to invade Iraq as the "tip of the spear" for Operation Iraqi Freedom. At the Camp Mathilda staging ground, Marines in First Recon's Bravo Company combat boredom, cramped tents, shortages of necessary supplies and armor, mustache protocol, officer ineptitude, a wind storm, an espresso machine fire and rumors of J-Lo's death while awaiting orders from Col. Stephen "Godfather" Ferrando, the raspy-throated Commander of First Recon. They also welcome a writer ("Scribe") from Rolling Stone magazine, who'll be embedded with Bravo's five-vehicle Platoon 2 unit, riding in a Humvee with Team Leader Brad "Iceman" Colbert, driver Ray Person and LCpl. James Trombley. After an unexpected and portentous mass delivery of pizza, the soldiers finally break camp, pack up their Humvees and cross the northern border into Iraq -- and into an uncertain future.

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.