Hahahahaha! That is absolutely hilarious! I’ll bet you wished they had little air conditioners in your vests, though...
That said, I am amazed at the way the human body adapts.
The Shackleton Expedition was trapped in Antarctica for a full year, and those guys became so acclimated to cold weather, that when it reached 25 degrees Fahrenheit above zero, they simply couldn’t sleep because it was too warm for them!
I’m not sure the human body can adapt enough for the middle east with that equipment, stress, heat, humidity.
Coming back on the base, in nominal safety, we bought ice cold Cokes from an Iraqi cart vendor outside the gate. Come in, drop our kit to t-shirts, sit on a grassy hillside in the shade, and cool off.
An AQI suicide bomber blew up the fella and his cart some months later. For ‘supporting the infidels’. No more icy sodas.
Often, we’d go see the medics/Corpsmen for IVs. Maybe a bag (1L) or half a bag (500ml). When there was electricity, the docs had very cold refrigerators. Nothing like a refreshing, chilled, bag of ringers to cool the body down.