You don’t really know your buddies until you deploy together. At that point you get to see a side of them that their families and closest loved ones have never seen — a side effect of spending every hour with them for months on end in a foreign land where all you have is each other.
You get to know the good, the bad, and the weird. Here’s what you can expect:
1. You’ll learn that insults are endearing.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294271/origin.gif?strip=all&quality=95)
2. . . . as is antagonizing each other.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294272/origin.gif?strip=all&quality=95)
Generation Kill, HBO
3. You’ll learn exactly how to take the edge off when you go too far . . .
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“I was just pulling your chain. Here, take a chill smoke.”
4. . . . because you’ve shared nearly every single thought that you’ve had over the last few months.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294275/origin.gif?strip=all&quality=95)
Ummm …
5. You’ll learn to think of buds as family.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294276/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
6. You’ll learn to communicate with each other just by grunting.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294277/origin.gif?strip=all&quality=95)
7. (Aviators learn hand signals.)
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8. Your comfort levels will approach new highs (and lows).
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9. And you’ll learn to be totally fine with complete silence.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17279961/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
10. And you’ll learn to be brutally honest with each other.
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11. You’ll learn who will be the first to put on his or her “deployment goggles.”
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17279967/origin.png?strip=all&quality=95)
Related: Gunny tries speed dating
12. And you’ll learn how to read the signs if something more develops.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17279960/origin.gif?strip=all&quality=95)
(In fact, you can pretty much read his or her mind.)
13. You’ll learn where they stash all of their goodies.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294279/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
(And it’s a general rule that whatever is his is also yours as long as you replenish it.)
14. And you learn exactly which items in your MRE to trade with whom.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17279663/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
15. You’ll learn not to rat each other out to superiors.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17220019/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
(Nobody likes a Blue Falcon, or Jodies.)
16. You’ll learn where to find your buddies when no one else can.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17276537/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
17. You’ll learn the most effective ways to settle your differences.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294280/origin.png?strip=all&quality=95)
18.You’ll learn to always have each other’s backs, no questions asked.
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19. And you’ll learn that other units can’t bitch about your buddies. Only you can bitch about your buddies.
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17294281/origin.gif?strip=all&quality=95)