An army cannot go to war without rifles and ammunition, tanks and artillery. If it's the Estonian army, it will need its saunas, too.
On the Baltic country's list of essential equipment for martial operations, the sauna is found amazingly close to the top. That's because Estonian soldiers are sensible and realize that regular use of a sauna is not a luxury, but in fact a necessity of life.
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In fact, for a while, it was regulation — every Estonian soldier must sauna once a week. That regulation has since been rescinded, but the routine of frontline sauna bathing continues. And that routine is made up of small groups of naked soldiers awaiting their chance to for healthy sauna purification on a regular basis.
One might think the practice would vary considerably depending on whether one was stationed near the Russian border in winter or in the deserts of Afghanistan, but one would be wrong. The Estonian army takes its saunas regardless of latitude.
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It's almost better in the hot desert, as Sgt. Kalle Huudma told the Wall Street Journal. "After a sauna, Afghanistan doesn't feel so warm."
