The following day at 2 a.m., Stewart journeyed from McGuire Air Force Base in South Jersey to work as a medic in Camp Bucca, a military base near the port city of Umm Qasr, Iraq. And for the next eight months, that will be his home.

Contemplating his journey from the comfort of his Montclair home, Stewart smiled, because the possibility of working as a paramedic has always intrigued him.

"It was something I always wanted to do, and I finally spoke to a recruiter in May of last year." Stewart said. The war, and the current situation it appears to be in, didn’t deter him. Neither did the three months of basic training, which he described as easier than expected.

"They keep you very busy, but there isn’t a guy screaming at you all of the time anymore," Stewart said.

After having his body beaten down and built back up in basic training, Stewart underwent a similarly grueling mental process during four months of medical training. The ordeal he describes would humble most who complained about their junior year of high school.

"We were getting tested every day, and if you failed a test, you had to get up the next day and try it again." None of this seems to faze Stewart now, even though his medical education was equal to the quality of what some people take years to learn and study.

The training has changed his outlook on life, Stewart said, noting that he deals with day-to-day challenges better, he has an improved perspective on life, and he’s learned that it’s better to live in the moment.

Looking forward to Iraq, he is optimistic, seeing less news coverage of the war as a sign that things are getting better.

"You used to see something about a bombing every day on the news, but you see less and less of it now. The Iraqi government has slowly taken over and eventually they’re going to get there."

The improvements are still reversible, he said. And the presence of improvements is important, because there weren’t any for so long, he said.

Stewart’s optimism extends to expectations of the risks he’ll be facing.

"I might do the occasional convoy when they need it, but I won’t see that much action," he said. And while he expects to spend most of his time at Camp Bucca, the young soldier admits that "None of this seems real until you get out there and fix someone yourself."

He was drawn to the medical training by the chance to help someone, despite news of the failings of the war, and through scandals and doubts about the military.

"If I can bring one soldier home who might not have made it otherwise, then it was worth it. I’ve done my job."

Wearing his military fatigues, Stewart muses about what he’ll miss most about Montclair. Preparing to return to the military barracks, he shares a laugh at the door with his younger brother, then gets into the car with his family to embark on the long and uncertain journey ahead.

He is still smiling as the car pulls away.