Yeah, you don't always win.
No. Clearly not.
You know, my father said you kept him alive in Hanoi.
- He said you kept all those guys alive. - Nah.
When you're tortured, the first thing they do is try to break down your sense of self.
And I broke in Hanoi.
For weeks, the last thing in my mind was self-preservation.
In fact, I prayed for death every night.
And the only thing that kept me from answering those prayers,
were the voices of the men in the other rooms... your father among them.
I don't care what you've heard, Yates. They kept me alive.
Not the other way around.
Hey! Sir?
You cost me my whole stash of smokes.
Oh. Well, I'm sorry about that.
Well, you win some, you lose some.
So what did you mean earlier about it being our wall?
I mean, it's Winter's wall. That fuck just makes us work it to keep us occupied.
It's like we're a bunch of little kids or something.
In 1870, there was nothing here.
The original prison was built by prisoners. I want to show...
I want to show you something I found the other day.
Where?
Oh, here it is.
You see this?
"Private A.J. Beck, 1912-1923"
Now why do you suppose Private Beck...
What do you think he was doing, building his own prison?
How the fuck do I know?
- Well, I don't know either, but I can make a guess.
My guess is he wasn't building a prison.
My guess is he was building something else.
They may have told him to build a prison, but, in his own mind,
he was raising walls to protect himself.
My guess is he was building a castle.
That's a castle?
Yeah, it could be. Could be.
- If somebody rebuilt it. - How we supposed to do that, sir?
How are you supposed to do that? I don't know anything about walls.
Why don't you ask pri... Ask Aguilar.
His dad's a mason.
Niebolt!
Good morning, sir.
- What happened here? - The prisoners, they knocked it down, sir.
- Why? - Irwin, he told them to.
Thank you.
Beau-- Beaupre?
What's up, Aguilar?
Th-- That's not the right rock.
Cutbush, you believe this kid?
Yeah, he seems to know his shit, you know?
All right, Aguilar. I'll bite.
- Bring me the right rock. - O-- Okay.
You need a rock with a flat edge,
because-- because that one's jagged.
- Th-- The jagged ones go in the middle. - The middle? All right.
Bring me another one.
If I keep getting you the flat rocks, you'll never learn...
I'll get you one more, okay, Beaupre?
Mr. Aguilar? It looks good.
Thanks, chief.
- Morning, chief. - "Molly be damned"
"Smote Jimmy the Harp with a horrid little pistol and a lariat"
"She's goin' to the bottom She's goin' down the drain"
"Said she wasn't big enough to carry it"
"She said, "Get behind the mule"
- "Gotta get behind the mule" - Pu-- Put that on the outside.
"You gotta get behind the mule"
"In the morning and plough"
"You gotta get behind the mule"
"In the morning and plough"
I'm impressed. Pretty handy with a trowel.
- Good work, you guys. - You know it, chief.
- Nice work. - Thanks, chief.
- What do you think? - I think she's beautiful.
- That's the word. - Eighteen courses in one week.
Aguilar...
I'm proud of you. You should be proud.
- Men did good, huh? - They did.
Now, listen. Be sure to leave a window, a portal. Every castle has one.
Aguilar? Excuse me, chief. Aguilar, come here a minute.
- Go ahead. - Guys, hold up a minute.
Hold up the work.
Hold up.
Maybe you should go first.
Put your name in the wall. Hey, hold up on the work.
Come on. Put your name right in here.
Spell it out. A... G-- G-- G.
- Scumbags are having at it, sir. Yes, sir. - Really?
They're calling Irwin "chief". That's the word they got for general.
They got substitute names for the other ranks, too, sir.
Anybody who was a captain is "boss". Sergeants are "sport", privates are "pal".
Playing soldier, sir.
- Hearts and minds. - Sir?
He's building a structure of loyalty. He's offering them self-respect,
in exchange for obedience.
The general is building himself an army.
He can have their hearts and minds, sir. As long as we got 'em by the balls.
- Well put, Corporal. - Thank you, sir.
Captain.
- Bring him to my office. - Who, sir?
- The prince of Venezuela. Who do you think? - General Irwin?
Mr. Irwin.
When you first arrived here, I asked you a question.
Apparently, I need to ask it again.
What do you want from your time here at the castle, Mr. Irwin?
And my answer is the same as it was then.
Do my time. Go home.
So you say, but everything you have done has contradicted that.
These men are not here for unpaid parking fines and traffic...
I'm under no illusion why the men are here, Colonel.
I just think they might be reminded...
about some of the good things they've done, rather than only the worst.
Yes, that is... that is something my predecessor used to say.
In his last two years here there were seven escape attempts,
twelve injury assaults on officers and N.C.O.s, including one killed.
Since I've assumed command, there have been zero escape attempts,
zero injury assaults, zero fatalities.
Some may question my methods, but they do work.
No soldier has ever died needlessly under my command, Mr. Irwin.
See, I, too, share the burden of command.
You may not think that I've ever set foot on a battlefield,
but that's because you've never sat behind this desk... this desk.
My men and I are vastly outnumbered.
We spend every day behind enemy lines.
Because, make no mistake about it, Mr. Irwin, they are the enemy.
But I don't need to justify myself to you, do I?
I don't know.
Do you?
This wall...
that has become the focus of so much... tension...
and turmoil...
Well... in about two minutes, there will be no more wall.
Back away from the wall...
Back away!
Come on!
Back away from the wall.
Come on!
Aguilar! Aguilar, damn it!
What is he doing?
Sound the horn.
Agui... Get down!
- All inmates remain on the ground... - Aguilar, get down!
What the hell are you doing? Get down, Aguilar.
- No! - Get down!
- Hey, what are you doing, Ramon? Get down! - Aguilar, get down!
- Aguilar, get the hell down! - Zamorro. - Yes, sir.
- You bet, sir. - What the hell are you doing?
- Get down! Get down! Get down!
- Aguilar, get down! - Get down!
- Aguilar? - Permission to examine the prisoner, sir.
- Doc! Come on! - Sir.
- Dellwo. - Sir?
- You're a sergeant-major? - I was.
Prisoners! Fall in!
I said, fall in!
Let's go, ladies! Now! Now! Now!
All right! Let's fall in!
Fall in! We don't got all day!
Come on. Fall in!
You look like a bunch of old women!
Fall in, goddamn it! Fall in!
Now! Now! Now!
- Scumbags runnin' the asylum? - Maybe.
Some may think to be remembered in this way...
would be a disgrace to a soldier.
But this is not a disgrace.
The greatest monuments to fallen men...
are not made in marble.
They're deep in the sea, deep in the jungles,
on foreign battlefields,
a rifle driven into the ground...
with a helmet on top... and some tags.
And that is the tribute that this man has earned.
Gentlemen, Corporal Ramon Aguilar,
United States Marine Corps.
"From the halls of Montezuma"
"To the shores of Tripoli"
"We fight our country's battles"
"In the air on land and sea"
"First to fight for right and freedom"
"And to keep our honour clean"
"We are proud to claim the title"
"Of United States Marines"
Sir, do you...
Sound the chow horn.
Sir, you still have about ten minutes.
- Sound it. - Yes, sir.
Present...
arms!
Fall... out!
Chow call. All inmates report to the mess hall.
So, tell me again.
Why is it Aguilar had to die?
- Believe us now? - I believe you now.
Very good.
You have checkmate in five moves.
Looks that way, sir.
Why you movin' if I have checkmate in five moves?
'Cause I have checkmate in three.
Shall we, uh, call it a draw?
If you'll excuse us, Mister, uh...
Enriquez. Let's go. Move it out.
Your, uh,
grandson.
Yes.
Very cute.
- Five? - Four, when that picture was taken.
Six now.
It was unfortunate about...
Aguilar.
But tough decisions do go with the job.
Burden of command, correct?
Look.
These salutes, I've given them some thought.
Technically, they are not a violation of regulations.
So, if the inmates can confine themselves to a simple...
hand movement through the hair,
I see no problem with it.
And if the men want to call you chief, well, that's fine.
Free speech and all that.
- Okay, then. - No, not okay.
It's too late, Colonel.
- It's too late for what? - For your offer.
The men don't want to salute.
They don't want to use rank.
They don't want better food. They don't want more TV.
They just want your resignation. So do I.
- My resignation? - You're a disgrace, Colonel.
A disgrace to the uniform.
You should not be allowed to retain your command.
Well, then I'd better go pack.
- I think you should. - Oh?
Tell me, Mr. Irwin, what's to stop me from just...
placing you in the hole... for, say, six months?
Nothing.
If that's the way you want to win.
Sir, if I can make a suggestion,
- maybe we should isolate prisoner Irwin... - Get me General Wheeler.
Yes, sir.
Two weeks ago, I watched as he marched a man up and down the yard.
A minor eccentricity. Fine.
Since then, he's been acting as though...
he still has a command in some fantasy army.
- And yesterday... - I don't think you'd want to make general.
Now, you wouldn't want to give up all these perks, would you?
Sorry. Go on.
Yesterday, Mr. Irwin...
told me he required my resignation.
Frankly, I think he's started to lose the plot.
You saying he's delusional?
I'm saying he needs professional psychiatric help.
He's sick and becoming pathetic.
Uh, you might want to be a little more careful in your word choice.
That sick, pathetic man put this star on my shoulder.
Yes, sir. I know.
And I also know that you sat in on his court martial.
And don't talk about things that are above your pay grade.
Yes, sir.
General Wheeler, I admire the man as much as you do.
So I want to see that he gets the best care possible.
And I'm not sure that this is the right place for that.
All right. Well, let me see him.
Do we read the rules, sir?
Read 'em.
Well, sir, normally for a contact visit,
folks are limited to one embrace in the beginning and one at the end.
And, uh, hands must be visible at all times, also.
I guess that rules out the hand-job.
Thank you, gentlemen.
- Permission to be seated, sir. - Permission granted.
- What are you doing here, Jim? - I'm here to see if you've lost your mind.
- Uh, he should be available later.
- I can take a mes... Just a second. - Good morning, Miss Kelly.
- Jim... Jim, yeah... Hold on... - Miss Kelly?
Miss Kelly, I got everything here but...
- the athletic gear. - I found that...
I found that top one laying on the floor out in the hallway.
- Hold on one second. What, Danny? - I found that top one...
- laying on the floor in the hallway. - Fine. Thanks, Danny.
Uh, yeah. We just needed you to send him up here as soon as possible.
He's saying you're delusional,
that you're acting as if you're still in command of an army.
He's saying I'm delusional because he wants me gone.
Now, if you had ironclad evidence...
of Winter killing a man in cold blood for no good reason,
then I could do something, maybe.
Outside of that, the man's been investigated three times.
He's been exonerated three times.
And as far as Washington is concerned,
he's doin' a superb job.
Yeah, and you're a convicted criminal.
- You could get another investigation. - Yes, I could.
But without any new evidence, what would be the point?
And besides that, Gene, honestly,
I don't give a rat's ass.
I don't care.
What I care about is you and getting you out of here.
Now, haven't you punished yourself enough?
- What I did was wrong, Jim. - All teams.
All teams, this is a full S.O.R.T. alert.
Repeat... All teams, this is a full S.O.R.T. Alert.
I cannot let this continue.
Now, you will get out of here, and you will go spend some time...
with your daughter and your grandson.
I can have my staff write up a compassionate release on medical grounds.
- It can say whatever you want it to say. - There's nothing wrong with me, Jim.
For Christ's sake, will you work with me?
- There is nothing wrong with me. - I see no indication of anything, sir.
Of course not. He'll keep it hidden until the last possible second.
Red Team, go.
Go, go, go!
Gene, what the hell is this about? Is this about control?
- Because, you know, no castle can have two kings.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Get down! On the floor, now!
- General, you must come with us. - What are you doing?
All inmates remain on the ground in the prone position.
All inmates remain on the ground...
- Let's go! - What is this!
What is this for Christ's sake?
Go! Let's go! Go, go, go, go!
All right!
Sir? Tear gas?
Return to hangar. Nothing is happening.
It was a bluff.
You can take her home. Return to hangar.
You thought he was gonna try to take me hostage?
- Yes, it was a precautionary move. - What the hell kind of...
grab-ass unit are you running here, Colonel?
Sir, at 11:58 this morning, I received a letter...
stating that a group of inmates were planning...
...on taking you hostage at 12:10.
I thought it prudent to act immediately to ensure your safety.
I've been hearing some disturbing things about what goes on in here.
And now I'm hearing it from a man I trust and whose opinion I respect.
- May I speak freely, sir? - Yes, you may.
With all due respect, General,
I don't know what you may have been hearing.
But until you've spent some time in the yard with those animals,
you have no idea what happens in there.
Point taken, Colonel.
Nevertheless, if I hear...
one more story about a man dying under your command, you are through here.
- Do you understand me? - Yes, sir.
All right.
As far as Gene Irwin is concerned, it is my judgment he is as sane as you or I.
I wish he wasn't. He is.
Frankly, I'd like nothing more than an excuse to get him out of here.
But I see the only way that's gonna happen is if you request it.
That is true, sir.
So you just... You tell me you can't handle him. He's gone.
Oh, I think I can handle him, sir.
You watch yourself, Colonel.
"Eugene R. Irwin,
"Lieutenant General, United States Army,
"in direct contravention of an order to evacuate Burundi...
by his commander-in-chief..."
That is the president, for those of you who do not know.
"... selected a platoon of men to extract Jackson Ngwe, a local warlord.
"Disregarding reliable intelligence,
"General Irwin's reconnaissance team entered the ville at 0300.
Eight men were captured and executed."
Disregarding...
reliable intelligence...
eight men...
were executed.
What I want you men to understand...
is what the consequences can be...
when you choose to follow a man who is motivated...
solely by his pride.
A man who will do anything for one more victory notch on his belt,
no matter what the cost,
before he fades away.
Start the extractions.
Over here! Come here!
Let's go. Get out! Get out!
Hi, Doc. Let's go for a little walk.
Get the fuck back!
- Open 355! - Open it up!
Look at you. Relax, ladies.
Hold him down, men!
I had nothing to do with this!
No!
- Why don't you just execute me? - No reason for that!
Turn him around.
Don't put me in the hole!
Oh, don't... don't put me in the hole! No!
- You want that? - No.
- Thanks, man. - You bet.
What do we do now?
- Jimmy, wait up! - Attention, inmates.
All visitation requests must be submitted...
to the S-3 by 1100 today.
All visitation requests...
- So, you really did... You really did bluff Winter.
The problem is his flush beat your straight.
I don't play poker, Mr. Yates. I play chess.
And in chess, you play with somebody long enough,
you come to realize that their first three moves are usually the same.
Chess, huh? What was his first move?
- What was the first move? - First, uh, two teams,
20 men apiece.
- Like I was saying, the inside teams only have batons.
- Second? - Second? Water cannon.
- Third? What kind of chopper? - Chopper.
Sir, are you sure we should be having this discussion this man standing...
You know he can't be trusted, right?
I don't know.
Is that how you use the burden of command?
To make men into... into, uh, chess pieces?
- Yes. - Hey, Yates.
Why don't you do yourself a favour and run along.
Pawns.
That prisoner walking away, who is that?
Uh, that's... That's Yates.
He was an Apache pilot, but now he's a lowlife... a hustler. He takes bets.
- On what? - Anything.
Fights, the weather.
He even took bets on whether Irwin was gonna kill himself.
"This highly effective officer seems to have no moral grounding whatsoever."
Is that so?
Well, that's what men better than me seem to think, sir.
Why are you here, Yates?
I would like your version.
I was involved in a drug-smuggling operation from Juarez to El Paso...
including several of my subordinates, sir.
You were "involved".
You ran it, did you not?
Correct.
Says here that you wore a wire on your men.
Is that correct?
- Yeah. - And how many years...
did they take off your sentence for... that?
Four years, sir.
And now you're the prison bookie.
Tell me, Yates, how does a man like you...
get into West Point?
My father was a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honour, sir.
Oh, right.
Well, sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree.
Your father...
Your father was a POW with Mr. Irwin, was he not?
Yes, that is correct.
- And yet, you haven't seen fit to join Mr. Irwin's...
- Crusade? - Crusade.
- Why is that? - It's not my fight.
Mr. Irwin is in a fight?
It says here you have three years...
left with us.
- Correct? - That's what it says.
That's what it says.
Does three months sound better?
I need to resolve this situation... quickly...
before someone else gets hurt... or killed.
- Do you agree? - I guess.
And the way I need to do that is with information.
So, you might want to rethink...
your joining Mr. Irwin's... crusade.
You asking me to be your snitch, sir?
Isn't it a little late in the game to be self-righteous?
- Dude, why I got to get my ass kicked? - How many times you gonna ask?
Stop your sniveling. I'm only gonna hit you once.
- Well, when? - Now!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Sit your tray down!
Hey, fucker!
Back off now! I said back off now!
On your cans!
Let's get on! Sit your asses down, now! Let's go!
You guys, we don't have much time.
We can no longer wear the uniform of a soldier.
We forfeited that right.
And that includes me.
I disobeyed an executive order.
I violated my duty as a commanding officer.
And eight men paid a catastrophic price.
It's a mistake not easy to live with.
So, here I am, just like you, a convicted criminal.
The only difference between you and me is I know I'm guilty.
So we're packed away here as prisoners.
And one thing is certain.
Our captors have the power.
They can try to humiliate us.
They can beat us. They can lock us away in a dark hole for days on end.
But there's one thing they cannot do.
They cannot take away from us who we are.
- And we are soldiers. - Yeah, that's right.
It is the one thing... It is the one thing that gives us a chance in here.
And that nobody can ever take away.
Yeah, that's right.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice.
"Grounds for Removal of a Stockade or Disciplinary Barracks Commander:
- "One. Dereliction of duty." - That's right. Yeah.
"Two. Criminal malfeasance.
- "Three. Noncompliance with procedural rules." - Yeah.
"Four. Making false official statements."
"Five. Conduct unbecoming to an officer and gentleman."
Yeah!
"Six. Cruelty and maltreatment of persons under his command."
"Seven."
"Command failure resulting in loss of control of facility."
Gentlemen, I propose that we seize control of this facility.
Take a look at a castle, any castle.
Now, break down the key elements that make it a castle.
Location. Protection. Garrison. Flag.
The only difference between this castle and all the rest...
- is they were built to keep people out. - Forward. Ho.
This castle was built to keep people in.
But it's still a castle.
And any castle can be taken...
...whether you're fighting in the 14th century or the 21st.
To succeed in a castle war,
you have to overcome the garrison,
take the high ground...
and ultimately capture the flag.
Okay? Enriquez.
All right. You set up a command post, okay?
And here, you have the guard... Well, here.
First of all, this is admin building,
Winter's office, guards.
Okay? Phase one, neutralize Winter's guards.
Phase two, towers. Control the towers, you control the yard.
Tower one, tower two, tower three, tower four.
Tower four is Zamorro... guy to watch.
Phase three, water cannon.
Four, helicopter.
Helicopter's the high ground.
Takin' the helicopter's gonna be a bitch. But it's doable.
Finally, the flag.
Capture the flag. When we capture the flag, it's raised upside down.
- Distress. - Right.
Right. Upside down means,
"Send help. The fort has fallen."
We raise it upside down, and keep it that way until Wheeler arrives and sees it.
Then, we've won.
Yates, shut the fu... You see what I mean about him?
Hey, Yates, what are you doin' here, huh?
I don't know. Ask him. He invited me.
General, I know, uh, his father served with you in Vietnam,
but do we really need him around?
Yeah. He stays.
- Duffy? You're in maintenance? - Yes, sir.
Yates.
Got a minute?
How am I doin'?
Five-to-two, in the colonel's favour.
- Well, you don't think I can win. - He knows too...
He knows too much. He's prepared. He's ready.
He may be prepared, Yates, but he's not ready.
You know, we can use you.
Hey, look man, I just want to survive this and go home.
- You make a deal with him? - What?
That's what I would do if I were him... go to you.
- He knows what you're capable of. - Listen, man.
- But so do I. - Oh, yeah?
Well, I know what you're capable of.
- I know your type very well. - Is that right?
Is that from your infinite years of experience on the battlefield?
Why do you think I should help you? Can you get me out of here?
- No. - Then what are you going to do for me?
Oh, let me guess, you're going to make me a soldier again? Is that what you're doing?
I get to be all I can be? You gonna teach me to salute?
You know what? This is about the time...
...I would be giving you my internal soldier speech.
But the truth is, you probably never should have been a soldier.
Your father was. That's how I saw him.
You saw him as a disappointment. Okay. Get past it.
That was then. The only thing that matters here is...
what we are now and what we do now.
This man is going to you because he sees the worst in you.
He's going to play for the worst. I want to see the best.
That means there's no middle. Now, these men need you.
And I need you. Now, it's your choice.
And don't tell me you're surviving here, Yates.
You're hiding.
- How's it going this evening, sir? - Fine, Sergeant. How are you?
Sir?
Prisoner Yates wishes to have a word.
Give me five minutes, Captain.
Hi.
Colonel Winter's office.