http://terminallance.com/2013/09/30/terminal-lance-furlough-tuesday/
The above blog post by Maximilian is pretty spot on, from what I remember of the Government shutdown back in 1995-1996 when I was in the Navy. It is very true… when you are enlisted personnel in the armed forces, outside events that are not going to affect your combat readiness or the next meal you eat (or your paycheck) really take a back-seat to the every-day rigmarole that is the military life.
I am sure that personnel stateside may feel a bit more, but when you are deployed (I think I was at sea at least part of the time that this happened back in Clinton’s regime) it just doesn’t matter as much.