Friendships formed

Title: Do We Really Need Friends? (Spoiler: It’s Complicated)

So, why do we have friends? I mean, besides having someone to share our Netflix password with or to blame when you “accidentally” ate an entire pizza. Are friends actually necessary for life, or are they just like that extra MOLLE pouch you never use—nice to have, but not essential?

Here’s my answer: yes… and no. (I know, super decisive, right?) Let me explain before you go off texting your buddies from the barracks to ghost them forever.

Let’s start with the “yes.” Friends are like your personal hype team, there to celebrate your wins—like passing that final exam on three hours of sleep—and to roast you when you trip over your own feet in front of your crush. They share your memes, your secrets, and the occasional ill-advised karaoke night. They make life a little less like a soul-sucking group project.

But let’s be real: not all friendships are created equal. Some are short and sweet, like that guy you teamed up with for a study group and then forgot existed. Others are longer-lasting—like that one sock you can never find the match for, but it still has your back. And that’s totally fine.

Enter the Infantry: Friendships Built to Last (and Survive)

Now, let’s talk about a very special breed of friendship: infantry friendships. If you’ve ever been 0311, 11B, or some other flavor of “lightweight human pack mule,” you know exactly what I mean. These friendships are built while you’re sweating through your uniform, humping rucks that weigh more than your future student debt, and sharing MREs that taste like cardboard burritos.

Infantry friendships are forged in the fires of endless “hurry up and wait,” sleep deprivation, and enough dark humor to make a shrink retire early. They’re the guy next to you in the foxhole at 0300, sharing a can of rip-it while debating the finer points of MRE Tabasco sauce. They’re the one who watches your six when you’re too busy tripping over tree roots and questioning your life choices.

And let’s not forget the sacred ritual of talking endless smack. In the infantry, friendship is basically 40% shit-talking, 30% carrying each other’s weight, 20% “I got you, bro,” and 10% absolutely ridiculous inside jokes that civilians would never understand. Like the time your squad tried to figure out how many energy drinks it took before your heart just gave up. Or the epic debate about whether or not a ranger roll actually does anything.

The Realest Friendships

These aren’t the friends you see every day once you’re out. But they’re the friends who’d drop everything if you needed them—like showing up at 2 a.m. with a pickup truck because you just had to move a couch (or a body—kidding, probably). Years might pass, but when you see each other again, it’s like no time has gone by at all. It’s that same grin, that same, “Hey man, remember that time we almost got NJP’d for turning the barracks into a Slip ‘N Slide?”

Civilian life after the infantry can feel like you’re stuck in a group project with no one pulling their weight. But those infantry friendships? They’re your compass. They’re proof that real trust exists, and real friends show up when the world is going to hell—or at least when the beer is cold.

So, do we need friends? Absolutely. And if you’ve done time in the infantry, you already know: some of the best friendships aren’t about how long you’ve known each other—they’re about surviving 20-mile ruck marches, sharing bad chow, and turning every miserable moment into a memory worth telling.

And let’s be honest: those guys who laughed when you face-planted in the mud? They’re probably the same ones who’ll be there decades later when you’re grumbling about your bad knees and still arguing about which MRE was the best (beef stew, obviously).