There are very few who sign up to join the armed forces for the comfort, the laid back lifestyle and the ample personal space and privacy.
Incredible pictures, released on Wednesday, show soldiers from the United States Marine Corps (USMC) on their way to serve in Afghanistan cooped up but in good spirits en route to the warzone.
The soldiers' humour and camaraderie was evident as they embarked on their journey at Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan.
The troops, some of the 15,000 ferried through the air base each month, will head out on year-long tours, ahead of the planned drawdown of troops in the country, before a total evacuation by 2014.
The removal of troops has been made harder by the region's ongoing instability – many troops, British, American and NATO, are killed each month by Taliban insurgents, IEDs and, in some cases, members of the Afghan National Army.