Dust Storms In Iraq When I Was Deployed!

This post is a response to @shadow3scalpel contest "Extreme Weather" I do not know if it is extreme to you all here but in Iraq and Kuwait they were. No air support during these storms but missions had to continue on the ground. It made it a little harder and more worrisome out there lots of times. When I was deployed to Iraq I had no idea what a duststorm really was. Then I went to the middle east! We got to Iraq in May 08 and it was hot and dry that day. The next morning was a different story in the distance you saw this tower of dust heading right for you and not knowing I asked what is that and they told me a duststorm is headed in. The season for duststorms in Iraq was April thru June and then again in September thru November, that is about when they happened the most if I remember correctly.

They towered about you for what seemed miles and the wind was blowing sometimes about 50 MPH. The sand in Iraq was like moon dust, that is what we called it, it was really fine sand and when it rained it would add it seemed like 50 pounds to your boots and the mud was like peanut butter. I hated the rainy season because that mud stuck to everything. Cleaning it up was a chore! That was really extreme. LOL After the wind died down and the dust hung in the air for a while it would make everything look like a red haze, for the lack of a better way to put it. That was the sun trying to shine through it.

We had some of the sandstorms in Kuwait too. The only real difference was the sand, the sand there was like the beach sand here in the states and it was like you where getting sandblasted when you were out in it. In Iraq, it was a dust storm and in Kuwait, it was a true sandstorm.

I just threw this pic in because it was the entrance to Saddam's parade field. The hands holding the swords were made from molds of his hands. This was in the green zone in Baghdad, where all the government buildings were and it was made into a rest area where we could stop and get time to stretch our legs in the middle of our route clearance missions.
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Delegate To The "Humvee" Bot @shadow3scalpel