Kuwait Sandstorms Tough for U.S. Soldiers (UN'S fault)

Kuwait Sandstorms Tough for U.S. Soldiers
(THE SADISTIC UN IS COUNTING ON THIS!!!)
Fri Mar 7, 8:09 PM ET

CAMP NEW JERSEY, Kuwait - Pfc. Charles Bryant got lost for three hours on the way back to his tent, disoriented by thick clouds of sand swirling at 50 mph in this desert camp near the Iraqi border.

Sandstorms, a gritty and miserable fact of life in the Persian Gulf region this time of year, are making things uncomfortable for troops waiting for a possible war with Iraq (news - web sites).

The international dispute over whether to resort to military force threatens to push the start of war to late spring with its inevitable heat, wind and dust.

Blowing sand and temperatures up to 120 degrees are tough on troops and their equipment, despite technological advances such as night vision gear which make it possible to fight effectively in the relative cool of the night.

Although the United States has satellite-guided bombs and cruise missiles that can strike their targets in bad weather, sand and dust can interfere with laser-guided weapons and gun sights. Dust clogs engines and grinds down helicopter blades.

At Camp New Jersey, the most immediate problem for the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division is just getting around in the storms, which arise with unpredictable frequency and can last anywhere from hours to two days.

Sand barriers, or berms, surround the camp — not to keep an enemy out, but to prevent disoriented soldiers from veering into the desert.

Some officers have used their handheld GPS electronic navigating systems to help find their way to the one remaining mess tent. The other two tents were flattened by the high winds.

"I was out here three hours just trying to get back," said Bryant, the 24-year-old Harlan, Ky., native who got lost on his way back from dinner. The 1,500 yard trip usually takes about 20 minutes.

And as bad as these dust storms are now, when temperatures are in the upper 70s, worse lie ahead.

In late spring and summer, hot, dry winds called shamals sweep in from the north, stirring gusts up to 85 mph. They can raise clouds of sand and dust to several thousand feet. The high temperatures create a demand for large supplies of drinking water for the troops.

The commanding general of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, deployed in Kuwait, said Friday that the military had made "great leaps in technology" since the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites), but that the weather was still a factor and that summer heat — reaching above 120 degrees — would slow down his soldiers.

"We have trained during the summer," Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III said. "It's tough on the them, it's tough on the equipment and we don't want to do that."

The 101st Airborne Division grounds its helicopters — its bread and butter — during sandstorms to protect the pilots, said Sgt. Maj. Iuniasolua Savusa of the division's 3rd Brigade.

A Black Hawk helicopter from another unit in Kuwait crashed last month in a sandstorm, killing all four crew members. Investigation into the cause of the crash continues.

There is one advantage to the obscurity created by the clouds of sand, Savusa said. It is easier to move troops undetected and to observe the enemy — if they can make them out in the storm.

The high winds have delayed the arrival of a ship containing some of division's fleet of 275 helicopters, 3,800 military vehicles — and its meteorological equipment.

"I can't plan stuff because we don't have weather equipment because it's on the ship, and the ship's late because of the weather," said Capt. Charles Cobb, 27, of Checota, Okla., a 3rd Brigade intelligence officer. "It's very frustrating."

Cobb said the division has been able to get weather forecasts elsewhere, but that it would be better to use the division's own equipment.

Around the camp, brown dust covers everything from computer screens to rifles. It gets inside sleeping bags and pelts against the tents.

"I didn't sleep at all last night," 39-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Kimberly Sanders shouted over the din of gale force winds rocking her 20-person tent. "I was afraid the tent was going to blow away," said the Army reservist from the 431 Civil Affairs Battalion out of North Little Rock, Ark.

Soldiers navigate from one tent to the other in goggles and head scarves, stumbling in the gusting winds. They are told to travel in teams of at least two to avoid getting lost.

Just staying clean is a problem. On Thursday night, some soldiers put on their physical training sweat suits and wrapped their heads completely with scarves after showering just to run back to their sleep tent.

"It gets into your ears, your eyes and your nose, but if we have tents we're happy," said Sgt. Maj. Steve Julian, 48.

As the soldiers adjust to the new environment, they get acclimated to it and it will help them in a combat situation, said Savusa, the commander.

I can give you a different version of the same events. My nephew is a Marine now located in the middle east, and his wife recieved this e-mail last week:

Hello families of CSSB 12,

Another week gone and a new one upon us. With it comes the month of March. Weathermen tell us that if March comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb. I hope this holds true. This week we've had several extremes. Tuesday we experienced rain with a five minute downpour of hail. Not the little stuff that comes down in Kentucky, but the large, marble size hail only an Ohioan can appreciate. Today we are experiencing wind gusts of 25 knots (for those non-mariners a knot, or nautical mile, is 1.2 miles per hour).

This is the third time this week that winds have exceeded 25 knots. The winds have been so strong lately that our adjutant, First Lieutenant Sofia Barbato, claims she was literally blown over Thursday by a powerful gust. First Lieutenant Dana Billingham, battalion watch officer and witness to the adjutant's fall, claims, "no, Lt Barbato was demonstrating a new dance move she learned prior to leaving California." Those that have ever witnessed the torrential gyrations, spins, and cartwheels used by Lt Barbato during one of her dance routines will understand how this might have occurred.

On another note, the tents are holding well but the dust that stirs from these winds gets into everything. The day after a wind storm everyone sweeps out their tents. The next day we have another wind storm and a new layer of dust...and the cycle continues. All I can say is, thank goodness for plastic zip lock bags. Corporal Justin Lofay of the maintenance detachment claims the grittiness has actually helped clean his teeth. Keep smiling Corporal Lofay and your wife won't even recognize you when you get home.

The battalion chaplain, Lieutenant Philip McClimon, has started a program for Marines and sailors of CSSB 12 to send a videotaped message home. Those that choose to send a video message have the option of reading a book to their children or just providing a taped message. So far, the video messages have been well received. Sergeant Nicole Merrill, the chaplain's assistant, thinks the great turnout is due to the chaplain having fresh coffee available for those that stop by. Some think it's the chaplain's winning personality and ever ready words of wisdom that draws the crowds. No matter what the reason, the chaplain section hopes the tapes will be enjoyed by those holding down the home front and help the younger members of the CSSB 12 family better deal with the time apart.

Additionally, CSSB 12 is allowing Marines and sailors the opportunity to make a call home. If you haven't heard from your loved one yet, be patient, we only have one phone and a lot of people who want to use it. Because of this, there is just enough time for each Marine or sailor to let their loved one know they are okay and that they miss them.

CSSB 12 started movie night last weekend. This was much more well received than the sock puppet show CWO4 Bill Otto of the maintenance detachment wanted to present. Although creative, no one wanted to see the battle of Gettysburg reenacted with CWO Otto's socks. Instead, moviegoers voted between 'Joe Dirt' and 'Van Wilder.' Corny humor prevailed and the audience laughed through the hilarious antics of David Spade as 'Joe Dirt.'

When asked why he voted for 'Joe Dirt', Corporal Juan Rivera of the Services Detachment said, "I thought the guy on the cover of the box was the staff sergeant that works in the S-4." Upon further investigation, we found the only staff sergeant that works in the S-4, and who looks a lot like David Spade, is our own Staff Sergeant Robert Broker. Speaking with SSgt Broker, he admitted that he does get mistaken for David Spade, as well as Dorothy Hammill, quite often. Tonight's movie selection comes to us from Chaplain McClimon's personal collection --- one of the new classic westerns, 'Tombstone.'

Oh well, that's all the news for this week. From the Marines and sailors of CSSB 12, we miss you and thank you for all you're doing on the home front.

Semper Fi

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.