In January 2009 it was a patch of lawless Afghan desert, riddled with Taliban fighters. Today, Camp Leatherneck is home to more than 60,000 Marines. Now, as President Obama prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan, go inside the epicenter of the war in Afghanistan and meet the men and women who work in and pass through the camp. Learn what daily life is like for the people who find themselves in this inhospitable place. How do violence, boredom, heat, dust, separation from family and cultural differences affect the mind-set of the warriors? What does it take to operate a city in the middle of hostile desert – from meals to mail and from gear to weaponry? And how do you secure a giant target in the middle of the desert? For the men and women of Camp Leatherneck, the stakes are high and the pressure is unrelenting.

Explorer: Camp Leatherneck tells that story and on January 31st, you’ll be able to see it for yourself. Follow the film crew as they bring viewers into the Marines’ world of daily survival as they struggle to defeat and unseen enemy and foster friendly relationships with everyone else.

National Geographic brings an in-your-face, open view of life on the sprawling camp as it ramps up to more than double in size and supply remote outposts. Follow squads of Marines as they seek to locate and decommission IEDs along major routes and counter incoming enemy mortar fires. Feel their frustration as they try to balance the delicate act of winning hearts and minds while also trying to establish order and progress.

At times, the viewer will almost feel sorry for the Marines as they fight what may appear to the untrained eye as an unwinnable objective. You’ll see firsthand how environmentalists are also affecting relationships in places where there isn’t even much of an environment to be concerned about. Marines must deal with such mundane issues as where to direct sewage water that farmers rely upon for healthy crops.

I highly recommend this documentary to anyone that wants to get inside the lives of our Marines in Afghanistan on Sunday, January 31st, at 10pm ET/PT. Here is the teaser for the show:

And for official current information on Camp Leatherneck, check out the camp’s official website HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: The author was provided with a free DVD preview of Explorer: Camp Leatherneck. No reservations or promises of compensation were made by either the author or National Geographic Channel in the writing of this review. The views expressed in this post are those of the author solely and independently.