Originally Posted by Martin the Martian
...At least there is an end date for those events, and it does actually involve doing the job for which they joined up for...
Martin,
I joined up to say
"Left hand down a bit", visit exotic places and meet lots of pretty girls.
I ended up doing all of this but I also helped fend off aircraft and missiles, rendered safe bombs, mines and other ordnance, changed propellers and sonar domes underwater, boarded fishing vessels, manned a Green Goddess, operated ROVs, helped evacuate refugees, fished bodies out of the water, helped put down an insurrection, chased pirates and smugglers, fought fires and staunched floods at sea, salvaged sinking ships, helped rebuild and decorate schools and hospitals after hurricane and volcanic eruption, etc. and spent eight or nine months at a time in defence watches (six hours on/six hours off as well as my daywork) with only short breaks in the routine while often having my homecoming delayed for pressing operational reasons. Towards the end of my time, I found myself driving various desks until the wee hours many miles from home. I wasn't particularly exceptional among my peers in this and wouldn't have changed any of it for the world.
What did you join up for?