'12 Strong' trivia and fun facts
Cinematographic adaptation
The movie is based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book 'Horse Soldiers'.
The Curious Case of Rob Riggle
Rob Riggle plays Colonel Max Bowers, former battalion commander of the 5th Special Forces Group, in the movie. Riggle, a Marine, actually served directly under the real Bowers during the same time period the movie is based on.
Filming
Although much of the filming took place near White Sands Missile Range, the scenes involving military encampments were not part of an actual Army installation. The structures were leased from AKS Military for filming, a private manufacturer who also provided the military structures for Transformers (2007).
Dostum words
General Abdul Rashid Dostum was quoted, 'I asked for a few Americans, they brought with them the courage of a whole Army' according to eyewitness Robert Young Pelton's in his March 2002 National Geographic Adventure article "The Legend of Heavy D and the Boys".