This article is based on a rare longitudinal interview study on the transition frommilitary to civilian life in which participants shared their experiences over the courseof ten years. The challenges of transition included disconnection from a collectivelife that had previously offered service members identity, community, camaraderieand purpose – experiences that can be understood as the partial loss of somethingprofound. An abductive analysis was conducted which centred on the integrating fociof commitment and the creation of a military identity derived from implicit religion.When viewed through this lens, the significance or strength of implicit religion andbelief, in the context of military commitment, can be described as paramount andsacred –worthy of dying for. The findings offer a novel understanding of the profoundexperiences related to military communal life, purpose, and identity during activeservice (that is, the conceptualization as implicit religion) as well as the loss of theseimplicit religious elements during the transition out of military life, and how theparticipants have thought about and dealt with this loss in various ways.