The Heat Is On

For six months, I have heard about the infamous high heat of Iraq during the Spring and Summer months. I tried to imagine what it would be like, comparing it to the humid heat of the South. But it is a different type of heat, a dry desert heat about which I've heard. Soldiers returning from Iraq often compared it to a hair dryer. I am finding now, as we have been in triple-digit temperatures for a week, that the "hair dryer" comparison is accurate. Wearing full body armor and spending any amount of time outside will result in torrents of sweat soaking the entire uniform. We drink several quarts of water a day just to stave off the dehydration that so easily befalls people living and working in this climate. The highest temperature so far has been about 111 degrees, and they say it will get hotter. It will stay this way until about September, I am told. This year, I have experienced two extremes of weather - the single-digit temperatures of the New Jersey winter back at Fort Dix, and now the triple-digit temperatures of Iraq.