During COVID times, my friends and I would spend at least one hour a day outside. Like clockwork, when our classes at Georgetown were done, we would toss the football around or play foursquare with a cheap soccer ball. Once, we were enjoying our hour free from the prison of our house when, upon hearing a trumpet, my body reflexively did not return the ball, and instead stood still. It was 5 p.m. and a nearby military base was playing “Retreat.” My friends thought I was insane, and I understood their confusion. It reminds me just how much military life is ingrained in me, and how most Americans have no direct exposure to it.