NAWA, Afghanistan - Josh Habib lay in a dirt field, gasping for air. Two days of hiking with Marines through southern Afghanistan's 115-degree (46-Celsius) heat had exhausted him. This was not what he signed up for.

Habib is not a Marine. He is a 53-year-old engineer from California hired by a contracting company as a military translator. When he applied for the lucrative linguist job, Habib said his recruiter gave no hint he would join a ground assault in Taliban land. He carried 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of food, water and gear on his back, and kept pace — barely — with Marines half his age.

U.S. troops say companies that recruit military translators are sending linguists to southern Afghanistan who are unprepared to serve in combat, even as hundreds more are needed to support the growing number of troops.

Some translators are in their 60s and 70s and in poor physical condition — and some don't even speak the right language.

"I've met guys off the planes and have immediately sent them back because they weren't in the proper physical shape," said Gunnery Sgt. James Spangler, who is in charge of linguists at Camp Leatherneck, the largest U.S. base in Helmand province.

"They were too old. They couldn't breathe. They complained about heart problems," he said. "We almost made a joke of it. We're almost receiving people on oxygen tanks and colostomy bags; it's almost getting to that point."

And that's not the worst of it.

Troops say low-skilled and disgruntled translators are putting U.S. forces at risk.

"Intelligence can save Marines' lives and give us the advantage on the battlefield," said Cpl. William Woodall, 26, of Dallas, who works closely with translators. "Instead of looking for quality, the companies are just pushing bodies out here, and once they're out the door, it's not their problem anymore."

Spangler, 36, of Lecanto, Fla., emphasized that translators need to be physically fit.

"When we have convoys that are out days or weeks at a time and you have someone that's 60 or 70 years old, I have to put the directive in: I need someone younger, can get out of a vehicle quickly, can run for short periods if needed, anything that's required for combat operations with Marines," Spangler said.

The company that recruits most U.S. citizen translators, Columbus, Ohio-based Mission Essential Personnel, says it's difficult to meet the increased demand for linguists to aid the 15,000 U.S. forces being sent to southern, Pashto-speaking provinces this year as part of President Barack Obama's increased focus on Afghanistan. Only 7,700 Pashto speakers live in the U.S., according to the 2000 census.

Mission Essential's senior vice president, Marc Peltier, told The Associated Press that the linguists the company deploys to Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries meet government standards. The military sets no age or weight requirements, he said.

"I really wish everyone we send over was a 21-year-old who can pass the Marine Corps physical fitness exam. They're not," said Peltier.

"It's been a shock to some of them. You can't really acclimate them. We don't have centers to run scenarios out in the heat. It is a surprise to many of them and it's very, very hard work, especially with a lot of the new Marines that are going into Helmand province," he said.

WASHINGTON - Veterans Affairs Department hospitals and clinics are not always ensuring that female veterans have privacy when they bathe and receive exams, government auditors said yesterday.

As thousands of female veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan and enter the VA’s health system, the Government Accountability Office reported that no VA hospital or outpatient clinic under review is complying fully with federal privacy requirements.

GAO investigators found that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door, including one door that opened to a waiting room. It also found instances where women had to walk through a waiting area to use the restroom, instead of it being next to an exam room as required by VA policy.

At four hospitals investigators visited, women were not guaranteed access to a private bathing facility. In two of those cases, there wasn’t a lock on the door.

Female veterans told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee that VA workers need to be better educated about combat situations that women face in the two ongoing wars. Beyond privacy concerns, there are other issues as well, they said, such as a lack of child care at VA hospitals and difficulty in finding diaper-changing tables.

“Many VA facilities are not prepared to accommodate the presence of children,’’ said Kayla Williams, an Iraq veteran and author. “Several friends have described having to change babies’ diapers on the floors of VA hospitals.’’

A majority of the female veterans who have turned up at VA facilities are between the ages of 20 and 29, and on average are much younger than the average male veteran, the GAO survey found. Nearly 20 percent have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and many experienced sexual trauma while serving.

Randall Williamson, director of health care issues at GAO, said although top VA officials are committed to improvements in women’s care, hospitals and clinics were not always taking simple steps to make women more comfortable, such as repositioning exam tables.

Patricia Hayes, chief consultant of the veterans strategic health care group at the VA, said the agency recognizes the care given to women is not as good as what’s offered to men, but it has made changes and will continue to do so.

She said space constraints and the layout of buildings pose challenges, but the VA is putting together long-term plans for construction improvements.