Plot

Easy Company goes through training under the leadership of a captain who relentlessly pushes them to their limits but may be limited as a leader in the field.

In 1942, men from across the USA are in Camp Toccoa, Georgia to undergo paratrooper training. For the men of 'E' Easy Company the training is particularly difficult as a result of their demanding commander, Captain Herbert Sobel. He drives them incessantly to excel, canceling their weekend passes on a whim. His favorite chore is to have the men undertake a run up a hill known as Currahee. While the men are fit and ready for battle, thanks to Sobel, he has unfortunately shown himself to be a weak tactical commander. Once in England, and knowing they will soon be invading the Continent, the sergeants stage a rebellion. Sobel's excesses come to an end when Lt. Dick Winters requests a court martial rather than accept punishment for one of Sobel's lame charges.—garykmcd

On June 4, 1944 - just two days before the Allied invasion of Normandy - Lieutenants Richard Winters and Lewis Nixon reflect back on the events and training that led them to D-Day with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment - also known as Easy Company.

Episode One, entitled Currahee, explores the arrival of the final group of fresh recruits who upon graduation will go to war as Easy Company. The episode shows the hardships that are normal to military training, both real hardships that every trainee experiences, and the bogus hardships that are the product of the mind of officers who have a higher regard for themselves than does the rest of the unit. Among the former, are the five jumps at Fort Benning that mark the Final Exam every Aspiring Paratrooper must pass to graduate the course, while examples of the latter run the gamut from stupid and self-serving, all the way to dangerous enough to place those troops in jeopardy.

The episode opens at Upottery Airfield near Aldbourne, England, on June 5, 1944. Easy Company is making final preparations for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of the Normandy province of France. The men receive word that weather conditions aren't favorable so the initial air drop is postponed.

The story then flashes back two years to Easy's training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The men are trained by First Lieutenant Herbert Sobel (David Schwimmer) who's methods and punishments are self-serving and unfair. No mistake seems to escape Sobel, who cancels weekend passes for the entire company for the slightest infraction by one man. Several of Easy's members are summarily dismissed. Part of Sobel's training regimen involves the running of a steep road winding up a nearby mountain named Currahee. The men are charged to run the three-mile road in 25 minutes or less, often heavily equipped, or immediately following meals. The men officially become "paratroopers" when they've made their training jumps from C-47 planes over Fort Benning, the same they will fly in on missions, and have earned their "jump wings."

Easy Company is transferred to Camp McCall, North Carolina, for combat training. While there, Sobel shows incompetence of strategic command during combat exercises. After several months, the men are sent by train to the Brooklyn Army Terminal in New York, where they board a ship to England. Further training follows in England, as they wait for the authorization of Operation Overlord.

Sobel attempts to have Winters (Damian Lewis) court-martialed for failing to follow orders that Winters never received; punishment would prevent Winters from leading Easy Company in the invasion. Several non-commissioned officers of Easy Company protest collectively to Colonel Sink (Dale Dye), the Commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the ring leaders are punished by reassignment to other units, while the others are demoted to private. However, Colonel Sink takes their reasoning seriously and decides to transfer Sobel to a training unit, where his abilities can be better utilized.

The story jumps ahead to late May 1944. Easy is joined by Lt. Virgil "Buck" Compton (Neal McDonough). While preparing for the invasion, Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere (Frank John Hughes) mixes his coat up with Sergeant John Martin's (Dexter Fletcher) and discovers a letter Martin received from his wife in the pocket. Martin's wife has mentioned that Guarnere's brother has been killed in battle at Monte Cassino in Italy and that Bill doesn't know yet. Rather than tell Guarnere and having it effect his performance during combat, Martin hides the news from him. Guarnere later confronts Martin and tells him he found the note. This episode ends with Easy Company donning heavy equipment and boarding their planes and flying out to their drop zone in Normandy.