KUWAIT: "This is not a normal day," said Sgt John Lemay, as his men gathered in for the words they knew were coming. "This, my friends, is a US marine corps day. And that means it's gonna be good."
The sense of being no ordinary soldiers, drilled into Sgt Lemay and other members of the 1st US Marine Division from the day they enlist, appears to be justified.
These are the men who will be at the forefront of a military invasion of Iraq, or, in the words of Sgt Lemay, "we get pointed in the right direction and when the whistle sounds we charge. Anything in our way gets taken out."
But at Camp Matilda, close to the border with Iraq where 8,000 troops belonging to amphibious landing and artillery units are based, these fighting machines revealed their gentler side as they engaged in the more humdrum tasks of camp life.
"Although we have a reputation for it, we do more than just kill," reassured Sgt Lemay.
A day in the life of a US marine begins at 5.30 in the morning with the obligatory cold water shower and trip to the chow tent.
On today's menu: "bullet- proof waffles" and bangers and mash are served - "though I'm famous for my corn beef stew" said one of the cooks to a chorus of "ooga", the marine grunt which means yes.
Cups of coffee are taken back to the large Bedouin-style tents that serve as both sleeping and teaching quarters for 50 men. In the tent belonging to India artillery battery, the finer points of missile ballistics are discussed, along with Iraqi cuisine.
"We've learnt that if we give a ration pack containing pork to an enemy prisoner of war or refugee they may become aggressive. If that happens we are to make conciliatory gestures and so say Salam," said Lance Cpl Brian Lucio (22), from Los Angeles. "It's one of the reasons why I joined the army so I see different countries and learn about different customs."
Thoughts of prisoners of war extend onto close combat drills performed in a dusty arena between tents.
"An elderly tribesman grabs your gun. Remember these people have not read out martial training manuals as you have. That gives you an advantage. Perform an evasions manoeuvre with a blow to the head," said the staff sergeant on duty.
Lunch is from a ration pack, the infamous ready-to-eat meals, or MREs, otherwise known as meals rejected by everyone. The queues at the shop selling sweets and snacks are understandably long afterwards, although there is a flourishing blackmarket in the coffee powder and M&Ms contained in the meals.
Along with the game known as spades - an advanced form of snap - a game which can "take a very long time, but we've got time on our hands", according one marine - there are few other recreational activities at the camp.
As the afternoon's classes continue until sundown, Sgt Timothy McNeely from Minnesota sat in his humvee jeep practising packing and unloading tents and reflected. "It's a hard life. But my father was a marine in Vietnam, and my grandfather a fighter pilot in the second World War. For many of us camp life is in our blood. We do what we're told, and we do so with a smile on our faces."