Field craft is a skill even taught to the AF these days. Dig a couple of holes line em with a tarp or a couple of ponchos and wash yourself then yer clothes and dry line em.
As to sleeping conditions, there is enough scrap material around there to build outstanding hooches /shelters.
After eating C-Rat's & MRE's during my career I'd rather have a MRE versus them damn T-Rats any day. My team when possible used to fire up a small multifuel MSR whisperlite stove (we used diesel from the humvee or even JP4, Mogas....) and kept a pot of boiling water going. Drop in yer MRE for a few minutes and then pull it out hold with a leather glove and eat a nice hot "clean" meal.
We used to pack along two cotton "sheet" liners we inprovised for our sleeping bags......swapped out every few days and washed they keep the bag clean for months. As you well know a five gallon bucket with holes in the bottom makes a fine hanging shower , cold is quicker and uses less water but one is still clean and gets at least the first three layers of gunk off their body.
Socks underwear, uniform and t-shirts for "deployment" were always bought over size and then boiled to pre-shrink to proper size and then boiled in the field to keep really clean without being to small to wear afterwards.
Granted things are tough over there but as long as MRE's ,soap, ammo and fuel with a lot of TP make it up the line they'll be fine if they learn to live on the move............
Sorry for the rant..........Stay Safe !
Squantos, that is the difference between 'elite units' and 'leg units' like the 3RD ID. I've spent some time in each. In the leg units, if that whisperlite stove isn't on the Placking List, it better not be in your pack. Siphon diesel, mogas or JP4--that's hazardous, you'll get an article-15 in a heartbeat.
and kept a pot of boiling water going. Drop in yer MRE for a few minutes and then pull it out hold with a leather glove and eat a nice hot "clean" meal.
"After PFC Schmedlap burned his pinkie, boiling water is no longer allowed in or around living areas."
We used to pack along two cotton "sheet" liners we inprovised for our sleeping bags......swapped out every few days and washed they keep the bag clean for months. Not on the Packing List? Not allowed.
I'm telling you, leg units like 3ID keep their soldiers dependent on the Green Machine to the point that any muff-up in the logistics causes complete chaos.
What I used to do was wash my socks in an MRE bag with a little soap. Was cold water but I'd let 'em soak for a about an hour in the soapy water and then fold the cut end of the bag over a couple of times and then shake it vigorously for a few minutes. It was better than nothing and I always had "fresh" socks.
I also made it a point to "shower" in the field. I didn't care how many people saw me standing buck naked lathering myself up. Use a small amount of water to wet your head and the rest in a canteen cup. Lather up the head with soap and wash my body as best I could with the water in that canteen cup. Rinse the head very carefully with your other canteen and try to make sure the runoff water took as much of the dry lather with it as possible. Wipe the rest off with a moistened towel corner and dry off. I was really only moving the dirt around to different places but I felt a lot fresher afterwards- especially in the crotch and armpits. Guys in my platoon used to laugh at me for my ablutions and I hammed it up sometimes by singing to make it an amusing spectacle but I felt a lot crisper at the end of a field session than many of my fellow soldiers seemed to and I didn't stink that bad either. I hate having that "funky butt" feeling. If it must be- ok I was an infantryman but I figure if I could avoid it why not?
I never minded taking a crap in the woods. An E tool with the handle folded and the blade stuck in the ground makes a nice little "prop" for your ass. You an also fold down the brush guard on the Humvee (if you have one and it has one) and prop it up with something or lock it in place with the pin. You then sit on the square hole where the headline shines through and have a nice seat- although your feet dangle. I had a platoon Sergeant who took a toilet seat with him and he used this Humvee method but put the seat on it- he was very comfy, he'd linger there and read the Stars and Stripes. If you're on a long march in the vehicles and you can't stop, you can crap in a garbage bag and tie it up afterwards- if you have a five gallon bucket on the vehicle this is even better- you can just stick the bag in there and have a sit instead of squatting with the bag. And of course a popular toilet seat is always the MRE box outer sleeve (garbage bag in it works good too in a vehicle but careful you don't collapse the cardboard on a rough road while you're sitting on it).