"118, AND IT FEELS COMFORTABLE"

I'm glad they've adapted.

"Right now it's 118, and it feels comfortable," says Lt. Brian Crowley, 33, of Los Angeles. Compared with many days this summer, when troops say the temperatures they've recorded have routinely neared 130 degrees, a 10- or 12-degree drop is welcome.

History has shown that how an army battles nature can be as important as how it battles the enemy. The bitter Russian winter of 1812 helped spell the end of Napoleon's empire.

Now, in central and southern Iraq, the U.S. Army says it is winning a dangerous struggle with brutal summer heat. Training that drills soldiers on the importance of drinking lots of fluids and eating properly has kept casualties low. Of the nearly 150,000 troops in Iraq, two have died in the past month from heat-related illnesses. At least five have become seriously ill.

"Given the numbers of troops and the 120-degrees-plus temperatures, it's a relatively low number," says Maj. Bill Dixon, a physician and chief of medicine at the 28th Combat Support Hospital, a city of tents 30 miles southwest of Baghdad. "People are aware and are serious about prevention."