Discovery Sets Series on Soldiers in Afghanistan (Exclusive)

Discovery Channel is putting the spotlight on soldiers who risk their lives to find and destroy mines in a new series titled Heroes of Hell's Highway.

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The three-part series will revolve around the specially trained soldiers tasked with finding and destroying bombs on Afghanistan's roads. It will follow two platoons that go into the heart of Taliban country to clear improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, so the rest of the military can get through. 

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This sneak peek, which is exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter, gives a look at Episode 1, "Welcome to Afghanistan," which portrays the Second Platoon of the 23rd Route Clearance Company's mission to blow up an enemy bomb. Meanwhile, the Third Platoon must use their massive, specialized vehicles to try drawing away enemy fire, but not everything goes as planned. The video shows the dangers of the job.

"I've been blown up four times," one soldier tells the camera.


The three episodes of Heroes of Hell's Highway will air back-to-back starting at 8 p.m. Dec. 29.


The series is produced for Discovery Channel by Big Fish Entertainment. French Horwitz is executive producing for Discovery, with Paige McKenzie as associate producer, while Doug DePriest, Dan Cesareo and James Patrick Costello II are exec producing for Big Fish.