This is for Warrior - late January, 1991, near the Iraq border. I was writing about crews firing the M110 8-inch howitzers. Note my photographer on the right of the frame with his Kevlar on backwards.
I probably used that. What worked to get young soldiers to loosen up and talk naturally about their feelings and to show you things was to have them feeling you were a bit lost. I wanted them to be saying to themselves, "Look at this dumbass. He could be home sleeping with Lois Lane, but he screwed something up so badly they sent him out here."
By the time they figured out I knew a little about what I was doing, the ice had been broken.