It's a professional military. You sign up and agree to allow your countrymen to use your life as they see fit for the next four years. And I think we all should have a greater role in ensuring that we use those lives wisely.

I think that just because you've been through an experience doesn't make you the ultimate arbiter of what it means. We figure things out; we work things out through the help of other people who can engage with us but also be intelligently critical.

We're so used to using military terminology in civilian speech that we forget those terms might mean something very specific.

I've certainly thought a lot more about things like tyranny and patriotism and violence. I think I found some kind of clarity - definitely a thicker understanding.

I think the key to working out is for people to think of water - just allow the workouts to fill out the cracks in your lives and seep into wherever you can fit it in.

I like the ethos of the military and the idea of joining an institution in which, at the very least, everyone who signs up believes in something.