We’re all familiar with that sense of relief you get at the end of another long day at work, when you can finally kick your boots off and unwind.  It’s that opportunity to blow off some steam that revitalizes us and gives us the energy, or just the emotional bandwidth, to slip those boots back on tomorrow morning and start the whole process over again.

If you’ve served in the military, you’re likely also familiar with how rare those opportunities to unwind can be in some situations.  You may find yourself deployed to a combat zone, where you’ll need to spend days or even weeks between those blessed respites from stress and anxiety, or, if you’re among our nation’s small group of submariners, you may have even fewer chances to really let your guard down and hide yourself away in the privacy of your own space.

Serving aboard a submarine means far more than just working within the confines of a steel tube – it means living within those same round walls.  Stressful as your duties may be, you aren’t allotted the same opportunity to head home, plop down on the couch and kick your boots off at the end of your day like so many take for granted in their day-to-day lives.  Despite that, you’ve still got to find some way to blow off some steam and reset yourself to keep up with the rigors of the job – and for many aboard Navy ships, it comes in the form of a day on a “steel beach,” like the video below.

Even war fighters need a chance to unwind sometimes.

Image courtesy of YouTube