War Dogs (2016) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

David joins AEY primarily due to financial desperation and Efraim's persuasion. After his sheet business fails and his girlfriend Liz reveals she's pregnant, David faces mounting pressure to provide for his future family. Efraim exploits this vulnerability by spinning a story about providing cotton sheets to the government, downplaying the arms dealing aspect. The promise of quick money to support his growing family overcomes David's initial moral objections.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, David admits he struggles to make ends meet as a massage therapist, establishing his financial desperation.

• David Packouz
• Efraim Diveroli
• AEY
• joining arms trade
• pregnancy
• money

They secured the Beretta pistol contract by exploiting a loophole in government procurement. Efraim explained that military equipment orders are public and open for bidding, allowing smaller contractors like AEY to tackle lucrative contracts that large companies overlook. With financial backing from Ralph Slutzky, who mistakenly believed AEY was protecting Israel, they successfully bid on and won the contract to deliver thousands of Beretta pistols to US troops in Baghdad.

• Beretta pistols
• contract
• Baghdad
• government bidding
• AEY

An Italian embargo threatened to block their shipment of Beretta pistols, putting the contract at risk. Efraim devised a plan to reroute the entire cargo through Jordan, avoiding the Italian blockade. This required bribes to Jordanian officials and a dangerous journey through insurgent territory, but they eventually successfully delivered the pistols to the military base in Baghdad.

• Italian embargo
• Jordan
• shipment
• reroute
• pistols

Henry Girard was a notorious arms dealer on a US government watch list due to his connections to terrorism, which made him legally unable to deal directly with the US government. While his vast cache of unused weaponry in Albania could fulfill the $300 million Afghan military contract, partnering with him put David and Efraim in grave danger. Later, when Efraim tried to cut Girard out of the deal, Girard sent men after David, violently confirming how perilous the partnership was.

Foreshadowing: The narrative explicitly notes David feels uneasy about collaborating with someone linked to terrorism.

• Henry Girard
• Albania
• watch list
• dangerous
• arms dealer

David discovered that the ammunition they secured for the Afghan military contract was illegal because it bore Chinese markings, violating a current embargo. This was a major problem because the US government cannot purchase weapons with Chinese origins due to security concerns. When David confronted Efraim about this, Efraim attempted to mask the issue, leading to further complications and escalating conflict between the two partners.

• illegal ammunition
• Chinese markings
• Afghan military
• embargo
• contract

Liz leaves David because she discovers his continuous deception about his work. While David is deep in the arms dealing business, he lies to Liz about what he's actually doing. When she confronts him about his dishonesty and secrets, she decides to leave and stay with her mother. This personal betrayal mirrors David's broader moral decay throughout the film.

• Liz
• David
• leaves
• deception
• breakup

After David decides to leave AEY and confront Efraim about their deteriorating partnership, he uses his knowledge of their illegal activities as leverage. This confrontation with Efraim, combined with their criminal dealings, draws the attention of the FBI. The tangled web of deceit, including the illegal ammunition scheme and potentially other wrongdoing, catches up with both David and Efraim, resulting in their arrests.

• FBI
• arrest
• Efraim
• David
• investigation

David receives a relatively lenient sentence of seven months of house arrest, while Efraim faces a harsher four-year prison term. This disparity likely reflects David's cooperation with authorities and his lesser role in the most serious crimes. The ending shows David attempting to reconcile with his family and return to a normal life, though the damage to his relationships and moral compass remains.

• David sentence
• Efraim prison
• house arrest
• four years

In the final scene, David meets with Henry Girard for an ambiguous exchange about their shared past. Henry offers David a suitcase of money in exchange for his silence about their previous dealings. The film deliberately leaves unclear whether David accepts the money or walks away, leaving viewers to question whether he will succumb to temptation once again or choose integrity.

• ending
• Henry Girard
• suitcase
• money
• ambiguous

The $300 million contract was a massive government deal to arm the Afghan military, representing the largest opportunity in AEY's history. This deal required sourcing an enormous quantity of ammunition, which led them to partner with Henry Girard and his stockpile in Albania. Winning this contract would have transformed AEY from a small-time operation into a major player in the arms trade, but it ultimately became the catalyst for their downfall when the illegal ammunition was discovered.

• $300 million
• Afghan military
• contract
• Albania
• Henry Girard

Ralph Slutzky was a local Miami business owner who provided financial backing to David and Efraim. However, he invested under the mistaken belief that AEY was solely protecting Israel through its operations. This misunderstanding was critical to securing their initial funding, as Slutzky would likely not have invested had he known the truth about the company's arms dealing business focused on US government contracts.

• Ralph Slutzky
• funding
• investor
• Israel
• AEY

As AEY's success grows, Efraim's behavior becomes increasingly reckless, characterized by erratic decisions and risky business practices. This shift strains his partnership with David and sets the stage for later conflicts. Efraim's willingness to cut dangerous deals, lie to partners like Henry Girard, and pursue ever-more-profitable contracts despite mounting ethical and legal red flags ultimately leads to his downfall and prison sentence.

Foreshadowing: After their first major success, the narrative notes that cracks begin to form as Efraim becomes increasingly erratic.

• Efraim
• reckless
• erratic
• behavior
• partnership