On the Professional Soldier

"I've always considered myself a citizen-soldier, even though I'm active duty and that title's usually given to the Reserves or the Guardsmen.

Anyway, here are some thoughts on the professional soldier or the lifer, as we sometimes call them, whom I've come to know in my short years in the Army:

He enjoys fighting. To him it's a way of life. He may bitch and moan about going to the Desert, but deep down that's what he lives for. To him war is fun because that's what he's good at. He kills. Enemy, two o'clock, bang, bang. Double-tap (sorry, sorry, "controlled pair") and one to the head just to make sure. He doesn't trip over it, he just does it."
Yoan Hermida