muck and bullets
noun1
Informal Gruelling, unglamorous and potentially dangerous military assignments.
- Conversely, the United States cannot expect to be excused from "muck and bullets" assignments — such as peacekeeping in the Balkans.1999, Mind the gap: Promoting a transatlantic revolution in military affairs:
- I narrated the first series and it went really well, so they commissioned me to get in among the muck and bullets and actually go on patrol around the world.2013, Vinnie Jones, It's Been Emotional, page 215: