FAQ

Technically yes, it would require presidential authority to suspend the Posse Comitatus and allow the use of the military within US. The team simply seem to disregard these rules or occasionally act as temporary agents of of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the body in charge of guarding American diplomats abroad and foreign diplomats within the US. This provides them with a cover identity and Federal Law Enforcement powers. Edit

Jonas Blane - Snake Doctor

Mack Gerhardt - Dirt Diver

Charles Grey - Betty Blue

Hector Williams - Hammer Head

Bob Brown - Cool Breeze (was Whipporwill during first part of Season 1)

Tom Ryan - Blue Iguana or Dog Patch 06

Sam McBride - Whiplash

Bridget Sullivan (unofficial member of the Unit) - Red Cap Edit

According to remarks and interviews made by members of the cast and crew and leaks on the internet these are some of the rumoured storyline ideas for the series if it had made it into a fifth season; - Tom Ryan would realise that despite becoming a Brigadier General his new position is essentially a meaningless administrative post, the military hierarchy has actually succeeded in sidelining him through his promotion. The Unit must adapt to his replacement, a female commanding officer who is a political appointee with little or no experience of covert operations.

• Devastated by Molly leaving him Jonas Blane has an affair with Bridget Sullivan. However she breaks it off when she realises that his feelings for her are clouding his tactical judgement. He begs Molly to take him back but she repeats that he must choose between her and the army.

-Tiffy becomes pregnant with her and Mack's third child and he applies to become an officer in order to better provide for his family. However their eldest daughter Lissy runs away from home and when Mack recovers her they discover she is pregnant. The couple must then decide whether or not to allow her to have an abortion. After a car accident Tiffy miscarries whilst Mack is overseas and they decide to allow Lissy to have her child and raise it as their own.

• Bob Brown is badly injured in a training accident and faces the very real possibility that he may never again be a frontline soldier. Kim's career at the radio station takes off and she becomes the main earner for the family creating tension between them.

-Charles Grey's new bride has difficulty adjusting to the secrecy surrounding The Unit and her new role as an army wife.

• Bridget Sullivan discovers that Sam McBride is gay and he agonises over whether or not to come out to his macho colleagues. -The team discover that the CIA has illicitly created its own special commando force with several ex-Unit members included within its ranks. When General Ryan tries to get this new organisation shut down his ex-wife reveals to him that a mole deep within The Unit has been leaking classified information to the highest bidder. The Agency has recruited its own group of elite covert warriors because it can no longer trust The Unit to carry out secret missions on its behalf. The team's hunt for the traitor within their own personnel would have been the major story arc for the season.

-Subplots would have included the recruitment of more female soldiers into The Unit and a group of journalists/human rights activists attempting to expose the organisation and have them prosecuted under international law for their actions. The Unit would also have crossed swords with the character of 'Super Seal', an egotistical former navy special forces officer who now hires himself out as a celebrity mercenary/bodyguard, motivational speaker and media expert on covert operations. Edit

According to remarks and interviews made by members of the cast and crew and leaks on the internet these are some of the rumoured storyline ideas for the series finale; The series would end with Jonas beginning to suffer with combat stress. This is aggravated by Bridget Sullivan being mortally wounded on a mission, her dying words forgiving Sam McBride for his fake attempted rape of her. As a result Jonas retires from the army and joins Molly in her real estate business. Mack would become an officer and he and his family would move to a permanent posting elsewhere arranged by General Ryan, giving him a conventional army training job without any combat role. Bob would leave the army due to his injuries and go to law school but he would maintin his links with the CIA and work as a training instructor/legal consultant for them and act as their liaison with The Unit. He is intended by the CIA to be their inside man on The Unit through his contacts but it is later revealed that he is actually still working for Tom Ryan and is effectively The Unit's mole within the agency. Charles Grey would be promoted to the new team leader with Sam McBride as his deputy. General Tom Ryan would get back together with his ex-wife and call in the numerous favours owed to them and his men to have The Unit once again placed under his command. The series would end with the entire cast assembled to watch Bob, Charles and Sam put potential new recruits to The Unit through their paces in order to bring their team up to full strength. According to an interview executive producer Shawn Ryan gave to The Futon Critic "[David] Mamet and I and our writers, we came up with a lot of great stuff," Ryan said about his pitch to CBS executives for a potential fifth season. "It was going to be a whole new show in the sense that we were going to be training some young people, Bob was going to be training some people for a whole new organization. Jonas was finally going to be seeing his run end......The final season was going to be, I figured the fifth season was going to be the last... It was going to be a long, sort of final mission for Jonas. He's not medically cleared, Mac has to go in and sort of change the medical records so that Jonas can keep on [going on missions]. We had a whole thing planned, it was going to be good." Edit

It's unclear. The term 'Delta Force' is only used once in the entire series. When the team are trying to defuse a highly sophisticated bomb Jonas asks the FBI to check on any potential expert bombmakers including ex-members of the Rangers, SEALs and Delta Force. This could be interpreted as meaning that the Delta Force exist in 'The Unit's reality but are a seperate organisation or that Jonas just doesn't want to admit to the FBI that he and his men are Delta Force members so he refers to his own organisation in third person. Edit

Many elements of the show were based on the true life experiences of writer/producer and ex-Delta Force member Eric Haney. 'Old Home Week' was based on the true story of Kiki Sanchez, a Green Beret who Haney trained with and who was later killed leading communist rebels in Honduras by a force of Honduran soldiers commanded by Haney. Controversy still rages as to whether he really did defect to the communists or was undercover for the CIA. The episodes where a mission to Iran is ruined by dust storms and the team used specially doctored rounds to kill an enemy without harming the crowd around him are also taken directly from Haney's true life experience Edit

Jonas, Colonel Ryan, Mack and Bridget all use Colt 45 automatic pistols. Hector and Charles Grey both use Sig Sauer 9mm pistols, Bob uses a Heckler and Koch USP and Sam McBride a Glock. For the most part they use Heckler and Koch MP5K machine pistols and MP5D silenced submachineguns although they have also used Baretta and Steyr SMGs. The main rifle is the M4 carbine, the shortened version of the US Army's M16 rifle although they also use AK47s, FN FALs and Heckler and Koch G3s if required. Their sniper rifles are the Remmington M24, M110 semi-automatic, the Blaser 93 Tactical and McMillian Brothers TAC 50. Off duty the team all pack small back-up pistols such as Mack's Colt .32, Colonel Ryan's Walther P38K and Jonas' Smith and Wesson .380 revolver. In the pilot we see Bob given a silenced High Standard Sharpshooter M .22 automatic by Ron Cheals. Bob Brown uses it later in the episode to neutralize the terrorists' spotters. In the same episode Hector and Grey use Benelli M4 combat shotguns. In '5 Brothers' we see Hector use the FN Minimi Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) light machinegun and during 'Into Hell' we see Jonas use an M60E general purpose machinegun. Edit

According to the patch on his formal uniform Tom Ryan's parent unit is the First Infantry Division (The Big Red One). Jonas Blane was in the Airborne Rangers and also the Special Forces (The Green Berets). Hector Williams was originally in the 18th Infantry Division and was also a Green Beret as was Charles Grey. Mack Gerhardt was in the 101st Airborne Division and Bob Brown was in the Air Cavalry. It is unclear what Bridget Sullivan and Sam McBride's parent units were. Virtually all the members of The Unit are Ranger and Airborne trained although Jonas points out that whilst Bob is Ranger qualified he never actually served in any of the Ranger battalions himself. Bridget is not Ranger qualified as women are not allowed on the course. Edit

In the early episodes of season one Mack Gerhardt (Max Martini) has a large facial scar on his left cheek. In most episodes he has a beard and it might not be as noticeable. In later episodes such as "Change of Station" he shaves and there is no longer a scar? It is suggested he had cosmetic surgery as the scar would have made him too distinctive for the undercover role. Edit

On closed captioning the Cadence call is "Fired Up, Here we go, Twenty Seven, On the Road, Fired Up". Mid way through season two they changed the "Twenty Seven to Plenty Sun"? Is this just an oversight by the person doing the captioning? Is there a basis for the actual Cadence Call?

"Fired up" by Robert Duncan Lyrics:

Fired up, Fired up. Fired up, Fired up. 27th, 27th. Fired up, Fired up. Here we go, Here we go. On the Road, On the Road. 27th, 27th. Fired up, Fired up. (x4)

Uuuh-Uuuh, Uuuh-Uuuh. Feels Good, Feels Good.

A-lo righta lay-eft, A-lo righta lay-eft. A-Lefty righta lay-eft, A-Lefty righta lay-eft.

Feels good, Feels good. Sounds good, Sounds good.

Uuuh-Uuuh, Uuuh-Uuuh. Feels Good, Feels Good.

Hey bobba reeba, Hey bobba reeba. Hey bobba reeba, Hey bobba reeba.

A-lo righta lay-eft, A-lo righta lay-eft.

Fired up, Fired up. Fired up, Fired up. 27th, 27th. Fired up, Fired up. Here we go, Here we go. On the Road, On the Road. 27th, 27th. Fired up, Fired up. -- 27th may refer to 27th Infantry Division (WWI, WWII). Edit