I think anyone, who has served in any arm of the military, will say the same thing Dave, the camaraderie and the fact that (we were all in the same boat), in the beginning although a competitive environment, you have to all learn to work as a team or it goes pear shaped very quickly. Because of this we servicemen put up with a lot and got by but got used to working with other people and sorely missed that, and of course your best mate's of say 2 years or more, still do and will always I think.
paul