Military Veterans here, what are some common misconceptions in fiction about the military?

Replace cold with hot and leaches with mosquitos and it's probably equivalent.

 

Camp Pendleton, where it's so dry your canteen will evaporate dry when it's sealed, your uniform will get sunburned, and at dusk the entire landscape turns into a crawling mass of tarantulas no matter how many range fires you started that day...

 

Never had that particular displeasure myself. I spent time at Ft. Irwin, NTC the home of the OPFOR. When I was there they were in Russian uniform, using Russian equipment, and playing war games in the desert. Or the stupidly long hours on Reforger.

 

Let's not forget all the DIs, drill instructors, who don't understand gravity. And constantly have recruits trying to push the ground back into place.