Beating the Heat Factor in Iraq
BABYLON, Iraq, June 21, 2003 — -- The arrival of the Iraqi summer brings another potentially deadly danger to the estimated 145,000 troops in the country: the heat.
In central Iraq, the heat in the past few days has hovered at around 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. That's in the sun, around midday. In southern Iraq,where British troops are based, the heat is compounded by unbearable humidity.
The temperatures might drop to a mere 110 in the evening. For a soldier, who must wear about 25 pounds of combat gear outside his camp, that is potentially lethal.
U.S. troops continue to be sniped and shot at on an almost daily basis here, and on average, are dying at the rate of one soldier a day. Since May 1, when President Bush declared the war to be officially over, about 53 American soldiers have been killed, though many of those deaths have been due to accidents, not hostile fire.
"The flak jackets hold in heat and can present a dangerous situation if a guy isn't properly hydrated or spends too much time in the sun, " says Capt. Chris Griffin of the U.S. Marine Corps. "We've had some Marines that are borderline heat casualties. We've got to make sure people are hydrating and resting during the hottest parts of the day."
Griffin commands Alpha Company, lst Battalion, 4th Marines of the Marine Expeditionary Force, based near Babylon. He wears a watch that gives him the temperature as well as the time, something of a mixed blessing. Knowing how hot it is … somehow makes you feel even hotter.
Griffin spoke to ABCNEWS in the relative cool of the evening, it read 124 degrees. By that hour, his men were permitted to jog around their compound — a former Ba'athist Party Headquarters — or even do a few pushups, as long as they drank gallons of water.
A few hours before, they were out on foot patrol through a nearby village, in the blistering heat of the noonday sun. The streets were empty. The temperature then was 130.
Why were they going against their own regulations about resting during the hottest time of the day, I asked as I staggered along beside them?
"If I were a bad guy, I would expect this to be the least likely time for us to come out. So sometimes it's best to come out when they least expect you," says Lt. "Hoot" Stahl, a giant of a man who seems to cross the street in about two strides.
Stahl acknowledges that the heat is just about the biggest problem in their company now. His men haven't been attacked since the war. This part of south central Iraq, populated by Shiites, has been relatively stable and the Marines seem to be well liked by the people .
"Heat mainly just saps morale," Stahl says. "If you let it get to you, it can affect your judgment."
"Even when we're sitting around it feels like a hairdryer is blowing on us," says his radio man. With his communications equipment, he's carrying even more weight than his buddies.
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