GuyM, I ran into Marines in Somalia... they used to freak me out the way they wrapped themselves up from head to toe in their ponchos, like mummies, and slept in the dirt... first time I saw a row of them it made me think of a bunch of body bags... Our infantry grunts are a little more civilized -- they would at least use a pad and perhaps a makeshift pillow...
Anyway, these leathernecks were artillerymen, and sleeping on the beach, and eating MREs all day long. We invited them to use our chow hall which was an outdoor affair with a couple MKT set up and an E7 cook who was a trading fiend -- this guy could get anything... the Marines ate us out of house and home, and referred to us as "Army Dogs"...
I never fully appreciated Armor until I saw a tank pull up to a line of frozen grunts at Hohenfels... when the TC opened his hatch, you could see the waves of heat pour up and out into the frozen air... the grunts were jealous beyond belief...
and yes, we sing songs about "crunch! crunch! crunch! goes the sound, grunts in my sprocket going round and round..."
