They may have had steel legs owing to two long years of training, but not that even prepared them for how long that march actually ended up being. Beside the sharp leaves, insects, ants and snakes, the weight of their rucksacks never seemed to ease up.
On the first day in particular, they kept a fast pace which, in hindsight, was too fast.
Since the Baker team was still in 'relatively friendly' territory, it almost 'ran' the whole time, even if the weight of the supplies and water was still at its max.
Generally, SOG teams didn’t warm up their meals because it risked giving away their positon, and on this mission, neither did Baker team B.
Ortega and the others used to fill their meal bags with water, keep them in their pockets for hours - which brought the dry frozen food packets back to room temperature - and then they would eat that disgusting concoction like it was pre-chewed meal.
If you managed to eat it without getting nauseous, it did serve to nurture and hydrate you, and as luck may have it, during their training at Fort Bragg they had learnt how.
The heat was atrocious during the day and the humidity level made breathing hard while in contrast it was bitterly cold at night. It was like a hand, albeit cold at night and wet during the day, passing through your clothes continuously touching you in a bothersome way. Even when the mission schedule actually allowed you sleep time, despite only for a few short minutes, it got at you just the same.