"Normal" is a relative concept. Here, you get used to hearing explosions sporadically throughout the day and night -- some near, some far, sometimes very faint, other times shaking your tent. But either way, you get used to them and it becomes normal.

You get used to sleeping in a tent and you get used to packing up your sleeping bag, putting on all of your body armor and getting into a convoy that will take you somewhere, not knowing where you will sleep.

You get used to carrying a weapon everywhere you go. It becomes an extension of you, common, like shoes, or pants, or a wedding band. You get used to loading it when you leave the wire and clearing it when you return. When you put the magazine in, you sense its weight and know that it is full.

And when you pull the charging handle back and let it snap forward, you feel the round enter the chamber, familiar, and it creates a sound and a feel that marks a moment in time. A reminder of where you are in that moment. It is rousing but familiar, "normal."