 The film is based on actual events. While the film portrays all  three consultants as being in Russia during the entire campaign,  Gorton, Dresner and Shumate flew in and out of Russia during the  five month period from February through July, 1996. Usually, two of  the three were in Russia while the other was in the USA. This was a  safety precaution, so if something went wrong in Russia, the member  of the team in the US could get the other two out.