(CNN) -- While lying on a thin mattress a few months ago, nursing the symptoms of dengue fever, I watched a huntsman spider leap off of the wall of my wooden shack and onto a hapless cockroach, which the spider dragged away and devoured. I was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the rural eastern part of the Dominican Republic. But the spider's ambush -- which gave new meaning to the word "insecticide" -- brought me back to another remote corner of the globe, Afghanistan, where I had served in my other beloved corps: the Marine Corps. Ambushes -- by Taliban insurgents rather than hairy spiders -- were regular occurrences in southern Afghanistan. As a Marine officer, I made two deployments there, the second of which was spent testing, distributing, and fine-tuning equipment designed to foil the remote-control bombs the Taliban used to ambush us.
@highlight
Will Aurigemma joined Peace Corps after his active service in Marines ended
@highlight
He found the two organizations have much in common despite clear differences
@highlight
Peace Corps volunteers take risks to serve U.S. and help struggling people, he says
The essence of the Peace Corps mission is to promote understanding between @placeholder volunteers and the people they serve.