Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

I love Mary Roach, I love her style and the way she goes into every situation totally naive but armed with many many questions.

This book was not about fighting or war, but the science behind keeping (American) soldiers alive. There was a lot about dicks, because up until recently there weren't a lot of women involved in the fighting, but I did learn that female soldiers are allowed to wear their own underwear. Which is great, I can't imagine bras provided by the military would be comfortable for anyone let alone everyone. Also, this: “Vaginal myiasis (maggot infestation) is a concern of increased importance because of the larger numbers of women serving in deployed units...Egg laying may be stimulated by discharges from diseased genitals.” So if I were a soldier I'd not only have to deal with the same shit that the men do, but also worry that if my vagina got diseased, flies would lay eggs in it. On the other hand, I could be pretty sure that there'd be no necrotic tissue in my vagina after the maggots were done munching on it.

There was a lot about genital reconstruction/transplants and the interesting question of whether soldiers should be required to donate sperm for safekeeping, just in case you're not able to afterwards (the idea of women donating eggs for the same reason wasn't raised for very long because if your ovaries get blown up you're probably dead).

I learned that it's possible I'm heat-acclimated and would do well in a hot environment because I “sweat early and copiously”, but I'd also very likely succumb often to military (traveler's) diarrhea which would dehydrate me anyway and probably counteract the sweating thing. On the other hand, I have no qualms about taking medication to stop diarrhea, apparently unlike a lot of soldiers who believe that letting diarrhea run its course is healthier than taking imodium.

I'd also probably be really shit in the Navy because sleep deprivation makes me useless. Not that it doesn't affect other people, it does, but they haven't found a way to lessen the amount of drills and tests that prevent Navy officers from getting more than a few hours of sleep a night, so they just have to pretend they're fine. And continue to be in charge of war machines. That's terrifying.