Frequent breaks, constant hydration and an 'arm immersion' tank filled with chilled water are a few of the coping measures used by the Army and Air Force.
CAMP BULLIS — The soldiers fanned out across the craggy hills of Camp Bullis. Some hugged big white rocks, while a few advanced cautiously toward the 'enemy' position. Their M4 carbines spit out paint balls.
Moments earlier, a radio had crackled with an announcement: 'Black Flag' weather conditions were in effect. As warm as it was before the noon hour on this August day, it soon would get a whole lot hotter. The temperature had crested the 90-degree mark and was headed toward 108. That's a high no one in San Antonio had seen since 2013. RELATED: South Texas endured 11 straight 100-degree days Sustained, intense heat is reshaping how training is conducted at Joint Base San Antonio's major installations — Lackland and Randolph Air Force bases, Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis, a 27,000-acre training range in northwest Bexar County. Troops are trained to recognize the subtle but potentially lethal effects of high heat and humidity. When temperatures are in the danger zone, as they have been almost every day this summer, training exercises begin well before sunrise, and instructors closely watch their sweaty charges for signs of distress. RELATED: Dangerously hot conditions across South-Central Texas Brief periods of exertion are followed by long pauses for rest and recovery, and trainees are told to down a bottle of water per hour. At Camp Bullis, soldiers out in the brutal heat immersed their arms in a trough of ice-cold water, then raised their frozen limbs into the air, transferring the cooler temperature to their hearts. Wednesday's 'shoot-move-communicate' exercise at Bullis was part of an Army basic leadership course. In a little more than 10 minutes, most of the young officers caught in the mock-ambush had yellow dye on their combat fatigues, requiring them to raise their hands in surrender. They mopped their sweaty brows as they headed for the shade of a tent. 'I believe it is mind over matter,' said 2nd Lt. Shriya Roberson of the Pennsylvania National Guard. 'It's discipline, it's willing to push your body to a healthy limit but also making sure we prep ourselves as a preventative measure.' 'Push yourselves!' Black Flag conditions kick in when something called the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature hits 90 degrees. The WBGT measures heat stress based on temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover, if any. It's different from the heat index, which takes into account just temperature and humidity. The Wet Bulb metric was developed by the military in the 1950s and is now widely used by employers, sports teams, school districts and other institutions to assess the risks of outdoor activity. On Wednesday, the WBGT reading at Campus Bullis was 94, well into the danger zone. At Lackland, it was an even more oppressive 98. From June 1 to Aug. 23, weather conditions on San Antonio's military bases triggered Black Flag conditions on 82 of 83 days. The lone exception was June 19. Nationwide, more than 33 million Americans have been under heat alerts over the past month. A large swath of Texas endured temperatures of 100 or higher this week. On Tuesday, the mercury hit 109 in Stonewall in Gillespie County. Friday promised to be another scorcher as recruits in Air Force basic training at Lackland fell out into formation in atriums beneath four mammoth Airman Training Complexes, high-rise dorms that house 1,248 trainees each. The recruits, thousands of them, assembled on drill pads at 5:30 a.m. to do their physical training in relatively cool conditions. Beneath a waning gibbous moon, they formed into flights, and by 6 a.m. they had launched into a series of warm-up exercises that included windmills and jumping jacks. They stopped for water and soon after started a 24-minute run, going clockwise around the drill pad. The temperature was a comparatively pleasant 80 degrees. 'Push yourselves!' cried Master Sgt. Clarissa Ritchie-Parks, a 13-year Air Force veteran who twice has deployed to the Middle East. '16 bottles a day' Caution is the watchword. One squadron at Lackland measures the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature hourly. Flags are posted across the base so instructors, staff members and others know the current conditions and can adjust training accordingly. At Lackland, military training instructors, or MTIs, are responsible for ensuring that everyone understands the hydration schedule. 'Sixteen bottles a day, a bottle an hour if they can,' said civilian athletic trainer B.J. Lough. 'That does not include breakfast, lunch and dinner, so a lot of it is hydration. And at least as far as I know, in this squadron my instructors are constantly asking them, 'Why is your water bottle empty?' Lackland follows 'work-rest' cycles: periods of exertions followed by breaks for recovery. The length of each phase depends on the weather and how far along the recruits are in their training. Instructors carry a card outlining the work-rest cycles for their charges. If recruits are new, they'll work less and rest more until they build up endurance. 'Acclimatization is really a big thing,' said Lough, 52, of San Antonio. Air Force basic trainees go through physical training six days a week. Tech. Sgt. Jacob Bergan, 29, of San Antonio, said the fledgling airmen run at their own pace but are encouraged to push themselves. 'Make it suck today, make it suck right now, and it will make your PT test suck less,' he said. Another MTI, Tech Sgt. Alisa Kennedy, 34, a 13-year Air Force veteran who has served tours in Greece and Cypress, said she hasn't seen anyone laid low by the heat this year. She's from Biloxi, Miss., where high temperatures conspire with humidity to make summers miserable. 'For me, it took a while to get adjusted,' Kennedy said, explaining that Texas heat is drier. Prevention MTIs are taught to react quickly when someone vomits or has a rapid pulse. 'That happens more than you would like,' said Bergan, an 11-year Air Force veteran who has been a training instructor for two years. 'I'd say probably at least once every one or two cycles, every four months. 'If we see something like headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, we are going to monitor them. If they need medical attention, we'll call the over. If it's a severe heat-related injury, we'll call a Code Blue, which will sound the air horn for 20 seconds, and let the instructors know to clear the pad, to get all of their trainees back underneath the atrium' and into the shade, he said. As Bergan talked, recruits nearing the end of Friday morning's run got some encouragement from Ritchie-Parks. 'Forty-five seconds! Run now!' she cried. At Camp Bullis earlier in the week, those running the basic leadership course were vigilant about the heat. They kept a WBGT thermometer within easy reach on top of a cooler with ice sheets inside. Also at the ready was an 'arm immersion' tank to help soldiers cool down. The water is so cold, it hurt hands, wrists and arms. Sixty seconds in the tank seemed like forever. 'It might feel like some form of punishment, but it basically is just used to help cool the body down, prevent overheating,' said 2nd Lt. Zoie Walther, 27, of Robinson, Ill., a nurse. 'It's prevention.' 'Find some shade' Training went on through the afternoon Wednesday even as temperatures rose, but the instructors took precautions. 'You have to be really deliberate with risk assessments, because the environmental factors were the biggest threat to us out here,' said 2nd Lt. Jonny Wilson, 33, of Copperas Cove, 140 miles northeast of San Antonio. 'The Army says we have work-rest cycles of 50 minutes rest to 10 minutes work, and we've definitely been implementing that the best we can out here, which has helped. 'But heat stroke is obviously the biggest medical threat due to Black Flag conditions.' What are soldiers supposed to do during the 50 minutes of rest? 'Try to cool down as best as you can and find some shade,' said Wilson, an 11-year Army veteran. He knows the drill, having spent a summer as a combat medic in Afghanistan, where he was exposed to temperatures as high as 120 degrees in the eastern city of Jalalabad. As he spoke, soldiers clustered under a canopy tent after a mock firefight. They made small talk, joked, chugged water and cooled off. 'You weren't supposed to die so fast,' said Pfc. Oscar Alvarado, 19, of San Jose, Calif., ribbing a fellow soldier. Roberson, an ROTC graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, was born and raised in India, where temperatures average 95 degrees in June. She expected to notice the Texas heat when she reported to Camp Bullis for the officer leadership course. But she doubted it would slow her down. 'Mentally and physically, I just know how to acclimate myself really well,' she said. Early and often Second Lt. Josie Middleton, 23, wasn't as confident. She's from Sugarloaf, Pa., four hours east of Pittsburgh, and had never seen a 108-degree day. 'I've lived in Pennsylvania my whole life, so 75, 80 degrees is a heat wave for us,' she said. Pfc. Kaiyu Poston, 19, of Hackensack, N.J., follows one of the central rules for coping with the heat — hydrate early and often. 'I drink water whenever I can, sir. I drink a lot,' he said. 'Yes, they do tell us to drink a lot of water, but we're made to carry water around everywhere.' The GIs also are required to wear 3-liter Camelbak water bladders at all times. Pfc. Alex Cathcart said recruits are constantly reminded to hydrate and to keep up their electrolyte levels by eating salty foods the night before training. They're also taught to watch their fellow soldiers for signs of heat-related illness. 'It's just one of those things from basic training,' said Cathcart, 34, of Lithonia, Ga. 'It's one of the most important things that they remind you of on a daily basis.'
Air Force Black Flag Lackland Randolph Air Force Joint Base San Antonio Code Blue Pennsylvania National Guard Prevention Mtis MTI ROTC Temple University Gis Camelbak Alisa Kennedy Shriya Roberson Jacob Bergan Kennedy Jonny Wilson B.J. Americans Kaiyu Poston Master Sgt Robinson Sgt Tech Sgt Mtis Zoie Walther Lough Pfc Oscar Alvarado Pfc Second Lt. Josie Middleton Alex Cathcart Ga Wet Bulb Globe Temperature San Antonio Biloxi CAMP BULLIS Bexar County Fort Sam Houston Afghanistan India Texas Campus Bullis Clarissa Ritchie-Parks Gillespie County Middle East Stonewall Cypress Greece Miss. Copperas Cove Jalalabad San Jose Calif. Philadelphia Pittsburgh Pa. Sugarloaf N.J. Hackensack Lithonia Ritchie-Parks Ill. Lough Airman Training Complexes
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