The article is devoted to the study of life in the “here and now” mode as a special form of temporal experience that emerges in extreme conditions of professional activity. Using the example of special forces soldiers participating in combat operations (including the experience of a special militaryoperation), the authors show that the focus of consciousness on the “here and now” is not just a psychological defense mechanism, but also a fundamental way of structuring reality in situations of immediate life-threatening situations. The article employs an interdisciplinary approach that combines methods of philosophical anthropology, cultural sociology, and military psychology. The empirical basis consists of interviews and analysis of informal practices of the special forces’ subculture. The authors emphasize the role of mythological thinking and collective memory in the processing of traumatic experiences. It is revealed that this temporal orientation exists in two main forms in this environment: situational (adaptive) and rooted in everyday service activities, where it merges with the cyclical time of myth and ritual. The article analyzes the mechanism of mythologizing key events (the death of a comrade, a successful operation), around which a system of corporate norms, taboos, and identities is built. The figure of the commander acts as a symbolic center that organizes the “epochal” perception of time. It is shown that this perception of time in the given subculture performs not only a protective, but also a meaning-creating function, transforming chaotic extreme experiences into a stable value-normative system that ensures psychological stability and group cohesion in conditions of constant danger.