Episode 12: The Burn Pit

Welcome back to The Common Veterans! In this special edition of the blog, we’re introducing a new segment: The Burn Bit. This is where things get wild and we let the conversation flow, no script, no agenda—just pure, unfiltered thoughts on everything from politics to what made us laugh so hard we spilled our coffee this morning.

If you tuned in to our latest podcast, you probably heard us go from discussing some serious political issues to cracking up over completely unrelated stuff. That’s The Burn Bit for you—it’s the chaos you never knew you needed.

We kicked things off with a deep dive into politics—typical, right? What started as a rant about the latest headlines somehow spiraled into us questioning how politicians can argue for hours without ever answering the actual question. It's like watching a bad reality show—except we can't change the channel.

But then, right when things got heated, we took a hard left turn into comedy, reminiscing about the weirdest things we saw while deployed. Someone brought up the time a guy tried to fix an engine with duct tape. No joke—he was dead serious, like duct tape was about to solve all his problems. Spoiler: it didn’t. The conversation quickly devolved into sharing the funniest, most ridiculous moments we’ve experienced in service (and trust us, there’s no shortage).

But The Burn Bit wouldn’t be complete without a little philosophy sprinkled in, because why not? One minute we’re laughing about misadventures in uniform, the next, we’re pondering life’s big questions. How did we get from debating military policy to asking, “What is the meaning of life?” No clue. But when you’ve got a group of veterans together, that’s how conversations tend to roll—unpredictable, insightful, and often hilarious.

We touched on everything—like how comedy’s become this battleground in today’s culture, and whether people are too sensitive these days. Can we laugh at the same stuff we did years ago? Is it all too serious now? Somewhere along the line, we decided that no matter what, humor’s got to be a part of the conversation. It’s what kept us going through the tough times, and it’s what keeps us sane today.

And of course, it wouldn’t be The Common Veterans without a shoutout to our own crazy lives. From the “back in my day” stories to the “what are kids even talking about these days” rants, we covered it all.

We even threw in a debate over which MRE is the worst—because somehow, food always sneaks into the conversation. And if you think we reached a consensus on that one, think again. (But we all agreed that anything labeled “meatloaf” was pretty suspicious.)

That’s the beauty of The Burn Bit—it’s all over the place, just like life. One second you’re ranting about the state of the world, the next you’re cracking jokes about things that only veterans would understand. There’s no clean transitions, no neat conclusions, just a group of veterans talking about whatever’s on their minds, however random it may seem.

And we love it that way. It’s real, it’s unfiltered, and it’s ours.

So, if you haven’t yet, go check out the latest episode and join us in The Burn Bit. Who knows what we’ll talk about next week—maybe we’ll solve world peace, or maybe we’ll just keep debating the best way to make coffee in the field. Either way, you won’t want to miss it.

Until next time, stay safe, stay caffeinated, and keep laughing.

From Politics to PunchlinesPhilosophical TangentsThe Lighter Side of Veteran LifeEverything in Between