Some may view the military as just another job, but not many vocations involve living, eating, and sleeping around one’s coworkers. I remember many nights in my rack, with dozens of other men in their own bunks. Some snored. Others talked in their sleep. Soldiers get used to it, but it’s a strange phenomenon that doesn’t come up in many other careers.

Sleep is often a rare and precious commodity in the military. Training and war duty don’t always allow time to rest. Once in Afghanistan, my squad pulled an overnight guard shift, worked through the entire next day, and were nailed with guard duty the next night. There were three of us exhausted men on the post that second night. We kept up this shuffling walk, like zombies, to stay awake. Our conversation often devolved into nonsense gibberish, as we lost our train of thought mid-sentence.