A salty Navy Master Chief and a crusty Marine First Sergeant were at a bar arguing about who had the toughest career.
"I have done 30 years in the Corps," the First Sergeant declared proudly. "I fought in three of my country's wars. Fresh out of boot camp, I hit the beach on Okinawa, clawed my way up the blood-soaked sand, and eventually took out an enemy machine gun nest with a grenade. As a sergeant, I fought in Korea alongside Chesty Puller. We pushed the enemy inch by bloody inch all the way up to the Chinese border, always under a barrage of artillery and small arms fire."
"Then, as a Staff Sergeant, I did three consecutive tours in Vietnam. We humped through the mud and razor grass for 14 hours a day, plagued by rain and mosquitoes, ducking under sniper fire all day and mortar fire all night. In a fire fight, we'd shoot until our arms ached and our magazines were empty, then we'd fix bayonets and charge the enemy."
Looking straight ahead, the Master Chief says nothing. Then, after taking a long, deliberate pull at his beer, he said, "That figures... all shore duty."