They may not be spies but Tauranga's very own Mr and Mrs Smith have faced their share of unusual situations.
Anaesthetic technician Fleur Smith has worked in East Timor, Tuvalu, Rarotonga and most recently Samoa.
She and husband, David, a registered nurse, were among the civilian healthcare volunteers stationed in Samoa with the New Zealand Defence Force from July 28 to August 19 for Exercise Tropic Twilight, a humanitarian aid and disaster response exercise.
The Bethlehem couple are among the 12 civilian volunteers and about 30 military doctors, nurses, medics, surgeons and anaesthetists that make up the Army's Forward Surgical Team.
''We did 50 surgeries just in our operating theatre and we did about 11 in clinics,'' Mrs Smith said.
''We treated thyroids, hernias, breast lumps . . . stuff that in New Zealand would never get too bad because it gets treated but over there never gets treated.''
The aim of the exercise was to test the military's ability to respond to a natural disaster in the Pacific.
It is hard work in challenging conditions but the Smith's loved the adventure.
''It's kind of like MASH but with a few more toys and a bit more up-to-date. You live and work in a tent on a football field for 18 days,'' Mrs Smith said.
But it's more than just the excitement that keeps them coming back.
''It's hugely rewarding. Hugely satisfying. To me it's my privilege to go and do that. The army touched about 3000 Samoans while we were there,'' Mr Smith said.
Mrs Smith has been involved since 1999 when she answered an ad in a medical journal.
'It was just the adventure of it really. You're going somewhere quite different,'' she said.
''We don't really do holidays, we have adventures.''
Since then she has spent nine months in East Timor-where they were all issued with flak jackets and helmets in case the situation got out of hand-as well as going on exercises in Rarotonga and Tuvalu.
And it wasn't hard for Mrs Smith to talk her husband into it.
''If I don't go on these exercises, I won't see Fleur forawhile,'' he joked.