Going outside the wire

From time to time, my job requires that I go outside the wire. As far as I’m concerned, it is no big deal. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t take unnecessary chances, but going out is not as bad as it sounds. The media lives by the rule “If it bleeds, it leads”. So as a result, all they talk about are the casualties. This slanted reporting makes the area outside the base sounds like the boiling caldron of death and destruction. The truth is, we have thousands of troops who go out on missions everyday with out incident. Also, like everywhere else in the world, you have your good neighborhoods and your bad neighborhoods. Some areas of the country are very safe. Others may require a little more caution.
There is a difference between hazardous and dangerous—a hazardous situation is one where there are certain risks that can be mitigated. In our case, we have safety systems in our vehicles that would make a NASCAR driver jealous. We are also heavily armed and armored. Most importantly, we have the finest, most professional soldiers in the world. All of these factors greatly reduce the risk of going outside.