When most people think of today’s military, they think of Seal Team 6, Badass guns, and lethal fighter jets. What people don’t realize is what keeps today’s service members ready for anything. Caffeine and nicotine. Now, I’m not just making this up when I say this, I’ve lived it for the past 5 years. Caffeine and nicotine have been a crucial part of my time in the Navy. And that doesn’t just go for me, that goes for the people I work with as well. A long day on deployment can consist of anything. It might involve just sitting around waiting for something to happen. Alternatively, it could mean working 16 hours a day to get a piece of equipment working again. Every day is different, but there’s something consistent. It’s 300mg of caffeine and some form of nicotine. Generally, the 300mg of caffeine is a minimum number and could be cups of coffee or energy drinks. The nicotine on the other hand varies from cigarettes, nicotine pouches, or dip. Options are almost endless when going to the ship store mid deployment to stock up… until there is no more options. If the store on a Navy ship runs out of energy drinks and Zyns, I can assure you that national security is going to drop, maybe not significantly but it indeed will drop. Morale plummets almost instantly and focus shifts from “what time does my watch start?” to “how am I even gonna survive this 12 hour watch without my fuel?”This “fuel” that we have is hard to describe. A lot of people in the world drink coffee, smoke, or do something of that nature. But when it comes to military, it’s on another level. And if that level of caffeine and nicotine intake is maintained, this country should continue to sleep peacefully at night.
-Brayden “Sheriff’’ Stinnett
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