A veteran reminisces about the times he and his friend, Conrad, would walk around and do mine sweeps while stationed in Iraq. Upon their return home, the men have trouble acclimating to civilian life. Conrad begins walking for hours every day with a metal detector to simulate his time mine sweeping in Iraq. He unearths strange things from guns to dead bodies to pet cemeteries.

When the platoon's drilling resumes, Conrad does not show up. His friends devise a plan to find him: they will don their uniforms and perform raids throughout town, even on a college campus, as if they were still in Iraq. When that fails to attract Conrad's attention, the squad fabricates a campaign to send volunteers to Afghanistan, knowing Conrad would want to enlist. Their fictitious sign-up sheet catches the attention of a superior, who decides to actually send them to Afghanistan. The tropes celebrate their deployment; they have missed their military routines. They give thanks to Conrad for making this possible, but he is never seen by anyone again.