I am honestly wondering what the average temperature in a Bedouin or Mongolian (sorry, for lack of better term) tent is and how one could apply this to troop tents in the desert in general and ultimately save on A/C and fuel because many generations of men have proven to successfully survive in the desert long before fuel and a/c has been invented.
My brother was stationed in Kuwait several years ago (waypoint to be deployed to Iraq). During the summer they had days where the temperature was around 140F (60C). The mean in August is 131F (55C) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait#Geography_and_climate
Think about how hot that is for a moment. Now imagine having to do heavy physical activity in it, moving large equipment, carrying 80 pounds of gear, hiking everywhere, etc... Your odds of developing heat stroke are extremely high.
Having a cool place to relax and recover in is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, plenty of soldiers would be suffering and/or dying. The overall shape of the military stationed there would decline, and would lose that advantage over their enemy.
People living in the desert dress in a particular way and adapt to the heat.
They also build their permanent structures in a way that maximizes airflow and cools the building. There was a NYT article a few years ago about an 800 year old, un-air conditioned mosque in Baghdad where the temperature was in the low 70's year round.
Pre air-conditioning, western buildings had features like this as well.
Post air-conditioning, European buildings are still built like that. Most housing buildings in Europe do not have air conditioning, even in the subtropical south.
Speaking of the south, many many buildings in Greece and Italy have a simple mirror and a steel tank on their roofs to supply hot water. No electricity or sophistication needed.
Even in the cold north, simple radiators provide enough heat to keep a house warm. Thick walls and small windows are enough to contain air temperatures in both cold Finland and hot Greece.
I'm slightly frustrated by my current apartment in this regard -- it's an older building, built with the assumption of no air conditioning. There are vents on the interior walls to allow air flow with the interior hallway, which is always pleasantly cool. The management has shuttered those vents, but not added any AC!
I have seen an airflow system in a newly built house to keep all rooms supplied with fresh air even without opening windows or doors and I think it is a fantastic concept - at least when considering the house was built outside the city.
I think this is called "heat recovery ventilation" in English.
many generations of men have proven to successfully survive in the desert long
I cannot speak for current operations - in the 90s we did not use A/C for the tents we lived in, but for the tents the computers were in. They also functioned as dust filters.
The "Mongolian" tent is called a yurt. And the Mongolian steppe's isn't even close to the same climate as Iraq. Might be a match for northern Afghanistan.
The Gobi is ridiculously varied (as is Mongolian really, it was wrong of me to generalize that much). That said, the Gobi is a relatively cold desert. High elevation plus relatively high latitude. My geography is kinda sketchy, so a quick google tells me that while the hottest part of the year can reach +30C (I guess approaching Iraq levels), temperatures in the north (the Mongolian part) are generally lower, and infact, you would probably be far more worried about how cold it gets than how hot (the famous Mongolian winters???).
Unfortunately, I can't really answer for the Bedouin.
hm I just looked at the wikipedia page quoting extreme temperatures up to 50°C but the challenge in the desert definitely is the huge fluctuation - considering it can go down as far as −40°C for Gobi.
Overall, this sounds like another point for thick, heavy tents (or in terms of the urban jungle: thick brick walls here in Europe keep wonderfully cool in summer and warm in winter.)
But I can also see how the a/c is probably one thing they do for keeping morale up... so this might not only be a thermic/physical problem.
