There are so many different aspects of the job: training, the field, combat. During each of these times, the job varies. I could explain each of these experiences at great length and detail but as with many experiences, words don’t adequately express what it means to be a grunt. But I’ll try to give you a picture anyway.

Training: Four words sum this experience up: “Any clime and place.” This means you go complete a Combined Arms Exercise at Twentynine Palms, Calif., in 100-degree plus heat, or a cold-weather package at Bridgeport, Calif., in negative 14-degree weather with 40 mph winds. Spending a month in Jordan to cross-train with the Jordanian military or carrying out a range on Guam in the pouring rain are just other ways to use our time. Sitting eight hours in the back of an AAV sucking diesel fumes and getting a headache while being jostled worse than any roller coaster I’ve ever been on. Even when we’re not doing ranges, we stay busy with endless classes on radios, Marine Corps martial arts program, close quarters battle, first aid, crew-served weapons and nuclear, biological and chemical training, all so that we can deal with problems quickly, cleanly, decisively and with swift violence when necessary.

The Field: Next I’ll move to the field, where the motto is, “If it ain’t raining, you ain’t training.” This aspect probably wouldn’t be that bad except that contrary to popular belief, we rarely use tents. You will also eat the best meals of your life as a grunt. I’m not joking either because believe me when I tell you that the meal you eat after spending four months eating Meals Ready to Eat will be the best meal of your entire life no matter what it is. The MRE you eat after a day of patrolling or a 12-mile hike with an 80-pound pack will taste pretty good too.

Combat: It’s a lot easier than training. After all, it’s pretty easy to get shot at. Most of the time combat is boring, waiting for something to happen followed by a few quick minutes of excitement. In those hours of doing nothing, you try not to think of everything you miss back home. Playing cards passes the time and if you don’t know how to play, don’t worry because you’ll learn, with spades, hearts and rummy being the most popular games. In the meantime, you’ll run endless patrols and search house-to-house all day long. You’ll crawl through an Iraqi sewer and climb to the roofs of many buildings so you can clear from the top down. After exhausting yourself all day, you’ll dig a fighting trench so that you can bed down for the night. In the interest of speed you make this hole just big enough for you and your partner so that you can get as much sleep as possible, since during war you’re usually at 50 percent firewatch. This results in closeness with your fellow grunts that I don’t even share with my wife at home. Despite all these occurrences, there are fun times; the joy of blowing up a bus on a demo range, fast roping out of a helicopter, conducting a live fire range at night with just tracers. The camaraderie you feel with fellow grunts as you complete a mission and bed down for the night underneath the stars. These are the parts of the job that make what it means to be a grunt.