Aside from staying alive, these were my main problems. They are maybe not typical, but every war is different and so are the problems a soldier has to face.
During the Bosnian War
- Coping with the incredible heat. I came from Germany and I wasn’t used to temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) in the summer. I remember that I took a knife and cut holes in my brand new camouflage trousers, just to get a little ventilation going. The first time I woke up after an afternoon sleep, I looked as if someone had emptied a bucket of water over my shirt, it was soaking wet from my own sweat.
- Keeping yourself clean. The hygienical conditions on the frontline were non-existent. There was a lack of water and I’ll never forget the horrible smell that came from human feces and dead bodies (mostly animals).
- Not becoming a complete jerk. The moment we came back from the frontline, many soldiers went straight to the next bar and got drunk. A couple of days later, when we were about to return to our positions, we picked them up at the same place. Some of them were complete alcoholics while others were more into drugs. It was very tempting to just let yourself go after a heavy battle, to get drunk and not to give a fuck about anything. Who doesn't like to party? On the other hand, this lifestyle was extremely self-destructive and I tried my best to keep things under control.
In Kosovo
- Lack of ammunition. We weren’t really low on ammo, but nobody knew how long the war would last and our supply was often unreliable. When NATO started bombing, the Serbs blocked the border completely and our logistics broke down. The only way to get more ammo was to take it from the enemy.
- Friendly units. We had a lot of trouble with the other units from our brigade. They were unreliable, didn’t tell us when they changed their positions and they were angry at us because we always got the better equipment ( we were the Quick Reaction Force). Fortunately, most of these guys ‘disappeared’ as soon as it got too dangerous and left us alone on the battlefield. We didn’t mind.
- Spies. They were everywhere! A lot of civilians were working for the enemy and we were often warned not to take a certain road or stay at a certain location because there were collaborators around who would report our movements to the enemy.
- Cigarettes! There was a time when we had no smokes. Imagine you are fighting the whole day and then you go back to your camp in the mountains and you cannot even light one up. I didn’t mind the lack of food or the constant fighting, but war without cigarettes is atrocious.
