| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| IV cocktail hour in the Green Zone |
| 2007-07-28 |
| W. Thomas Smith, Jr., National Review THE GREEN ZONE (Baghdad) — All quiet on this Saturday morning here in Emerald City: Sitting here in the media compound alternating between a Gatorade and a cup of coffee, checking e-mail (which I've been unable to do in a few days), and looking through the window at a pair of Black Hawk helicopters thundering past. . . . As far as the weather; still incredibly hot and lots of fine, blowing sand everywhere ... on and in everything. The images we all see of the heavily accoutered U.S. troops speaks nothing to the extreme temps they are operating in, especially the combat arms types — infantry, spec ops, and the poor bloody tankers. It's so easy to become dehydrated out here. An Army captain back in Kuwait described how soldiers and Marines in combat sometimes cut open the top of an IV fluid bag, mix-in some Kool-Aid powder from an MRE, and drink it. "It tastes pretty bad, he said. "But it's almost instant rehydration, and soldiers keep fighting." |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #10 TU - bottom line - you pulled a "Frank G". Good luck :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-28 21:46 |
| #9 Or -- should that be, Smith is a Marine, just retired from active duty?" |
| Posted by: Sherry 2007-07-28 21:44 |
| #8 and keep in mind, Smith is a "former Marine." |
| Posted by: Sherry 2007-07-28 21:44 |
| #7 3031: National Review is the good guys. Smith is on his way to an embed slot with the USMC, and has been blogging each stage of the trip in NR's "The Tank," which is a military affairs blog. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-07-28 20:49 |
| #6 trailing wife: Gatorade can seriously mess you up unless it is cut at least 50/50 with water. It has to draw water into your stomach before you can absorb it, and if you are already dehydrated, that can be bad. Salt tablets are also a no-no, because you miss out on other salts. If you tend to lack potassium, resulting in ringing in the ears, a teaspoon full of vinegar will be quickly absorbed, though obviously not when drinking baking soda water. The US Army did some post-WWII tests out in the Sonora in Summer, and discovered, for example, that the typical life for a brand new pair of black leather combat boots is 3 days. The rubber soles get soft and crack apart. 5 gallons per man per day is also in the shade and with minimal work. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-28 18:10 |
| #5 er....National Review is the anti-TNR |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-28 17:34 |
| #4 Oh, I wouldn't worry about it, W. Thomas. Have Achmed pour you another banana daquiri and see if you can make up some more "Bradley's running over dogs" type stories before TNR's next deadline... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-07-28 17:19 |
| #3 "cut open the top of an IV fluid bag, mix-in some Kool-Aid powder from an MRE, and drink it" Marf. They're certainly better men than I am. Oh, wait.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-07-28 15:52 |
| #2 Anonymoose, how does this compare to Gatorade (besides being cheaper and tasting viler, I mean)? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-28 13:51 |
| #1 In the Sonora Desert in summer, with water consumption about 5 gallons per man per day, we got into the habit of carrying around ampules with a mix of 1 teaspoon each of sugar, salt and baking soda. When added to 1 quart or canteen of water, it would instantly absorb through the stomach, while keeping your blood salts balanced, though it tasted like crap. It could get bizarre. Constant thirst, even when your stomach was full of water, and because the humidity was 3%, you never felt sweat, but your t-shirt would get covered with salt stains. And even drinking 5 gallons of water a day, you still had to force yourself to urinate, because otherwise you wouldn't. And your urine would be dark yellow to light brown. Not good. Heat exhaustion feels a lot like sea sickness. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-28 13:20 |