Mother watches son go to combat weekly on TV

Juanita Joyce Kain hadn't seen her son, Bob, in three years until she turned on the television last week for the first episode of the USA cable network's "Combat Missions."

The Cape Girardeau woman said she cried when she saw her firstborn's face and bald pate on the screen.

She said she couldn't help it, even though she knew ahead of time he was going to be on the show and had talked with him on the telephone about it.

Kain, 41, is a member of the Los Angeles Police Department's elite SWAT unit. He took a monthlong vacation from the police force to compete.

His last visit to Cape Girardeau was in 1998 when he attended his 20-year high school reunion. His father is the late Charles Kain.

For "Combat Missions," Kain took part in a contest that pits him against 23 other men from the military or law enforcement. He was chosen from a field of 750 applicants.

The show is the creation of Mark Burnett, who produced "Survivor" and founded the "Eco-Challenge" adventure race.

"Combat Missions" involves four teams of six men, selected from members of special operations groups like the Army's Green Berets or Delta Force, Navy SEALs, police SWAT and government CIA. Kain had served as a U.S. Marine from 1979 to 1982.

After every combat mission, losing squads vote out a member of their team. Unlike "Survivor," the vote isn't anonymous. Teams may choose not to vote and may instead draw straws to decide who leaves.

The competitions involve physical training exercises and combat missions and each week pits two teams against each other.

In the initial episode, Kain's Bravo squad defeated the Charlie team in two trials, winning the first episode's contest.

The first trial involved each team carrying a 500-pound log through an obstacle course. As time passes, each team has to lose a member, leaving fewer and fewer carrying the log. Kain's team won when the other squad, down to three men, dropped its log.

Then both teams had to capture and destroy an enemy tank.

After Kain was "shot" during the mission with a laser light, his photo flashed on the screen with the words "Kain Dead."

"That gave me kind of a creepy feeling," said his sister, Pauline Broadbent.

"I did not like that part," Juanita Kain said.

This week, the Alpha and Delta teams will face off.

Kain, back on duty in Los Angeles, declined to return several phone messages.

The show will take 15 weeks. Initially, the competition will be squad vs. squad for a $150,000 team winner. Then there will be a final showdown with a $250,000 winner.

No straight answer

Juanita Kain said she tried to get her son to tell her if he'd won, but he refused to answer.

"I didn't expect him to tell me, but it was worth a shot," she said.

She didn't know he was involved with the TV show until about a week before it premiered. "He wanted it to be a surprise," she said.

Filmed last April in the Mojave Desert, the teams lived in a tent camp called "Windstorm" with former "Survivor" contestant Rudy Boesch as their host.

Overall, Broadbent said it was fun watching her brother on television. She's confident he'll do well.

"He's the type of person who likes to push himself as far as he can," she said.

She found out before the show aired that Kain would be on "Combat Missions," but said her brother has been fairly tight-lipped about the whole situation.

"He didn't make a big deal out of it," she said. "He just wanted to let us know before the ads aired."

Broadbent said she and her husband have been trying to guess whether or not her reserved brother won the contest.

"We think he made it at least halfway through unless he got voted off because of his attitude," she said.

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160

For more information about the show, visit combatmissions.com and usanetwork.com/series/combatmissions/.