Out of the Wire

"The first time I rolled out of the wire, I wasn’t as nervous as I probably should have been. I’d woken up with a rare sense of calm that morning, something I attributed to the fact that I was going on a leader’s recon, and thus attached to the hip of the platoon leader whose unit we were replacing. It was still his show, and with the Gravediggers staying back at the FOB for the day under the precise supervision of SFC Big Country, the burden of leadership melted away like a renegade iceberg finding itself alone and powerless in the Caribbean. I was there to listen and absorb, something that was a welcome break from my normal occupational hazards."
Kaboom: