In the end, we were all fine–as untouched and untroubled as we'd been before Iraq.

If anything changed, if there was a single takeaway from what we saw in Kurdistan and what we learned during three days of "Hazardous Environment Training" in what our British instructors called "Virginiastan", it was the absolutely jaw-dropping realization of exactly how physically difficult it is for our military personnel on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.And I'm not talking about the fighting. I'm...