LIVING SUPPORT AREA 7, Kuwait - Life at the U.S. military base closest to the Iraqi border ricochets between boredom and tension, anxiety and tedium, hot and cold, drudgery and, in the worst of scenarios, temporary confusion.

But mostly it revolves around the continuous, nearly round-the-clock process of preparing the more than 6,000 Marines for what could be the most important day of their lives - military combat.

Days and nights are filled with training and planning. There are night vision exercises, ambush tactics, fire response maneuvers and the detailed coordination and practice that goes into planning an attack that will involve jets, helicopters, tanks, artillery, mortars, land-based rockets and ground forces.

For the average Marine, it comes down to the simple things. It's awaking to a cold desert at 6 a.m. and trotting down to a communal area in an endless stretch of barren desert for a cold shave from a plastic bottle of water while his fellow Marines brush their teeth over a pit filled with rocks.

It's the first meal of the day, one of three, that comes out of a brown plastic bag that always includes a tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce. They're called Meals Ready to Eat, commonly known as MREs. Food is heated by placing a plastic bag containing the main course into another plastic bag and using a chemical reaction and a heating element inside it to warm the meal.

By midday, when it is hottest, there is usually some form of physical training to keep the Marines in shape for combat. They check and recheck their weapons, write letters to loved ones, and jump at the chance for a 10-minute phone call home.

Washing clothes? The Marines place water, soap, dirty clothes and smooth rocks into an empty ammunition box, close it tightly and shake it for 30 minutes.

By nighttime, most Marines are exhausted, and by 8 p.m. they have returned to their "hooch" for the night. For the average Marine, that means finding his space among the other 80 Marines his 100-foot long tent.

By 10 p.m., the temperature has dropped to what feels like below freezing and everybody hunkers down in as much clothing as they can muster in a sleeping bag on a hard, wood floor. Before they know it, it's reveille, and, as they say here, "another wonderful day in the Corps."