Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1991 TAG: 9102130281
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From the Los Angeles Times/ and Cox News Service
DATELINE: ABU HADRIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
Already the fine, talclike sand is forcing crews to take extraordinary maintenance steps and raising questions about the long-term effect on such key pieces of equipment as attack helicopters and electronic surveillance devices.
But it will get worse in the coming weeks. Spring winds, known as or "night comer," can whip up a desert sandstorm in minutes from any direction.
The 30-mph winds of a typical storm can stir a dust cloud 14,000 feet high and covering 6,000 square miles.
Rain also is expected to become a problem soon, creating rough going for vehicles and breeding grounds for diseases, such as river blindness, to which Western troops are unaccustomed.
U.S. commanders in Riyadh and Washington say weather considerations have been calculated into the timing for the possible start of a land war.
"We look at the calendar like anybody else does," said Marine Brig. Gen. Richard I. Neal, deputy commander of operations for Desert Storm. "We look at the weather for the past four, five, six years. It's all put into the equation as to what would be a good time for doing any type of operation."
But some soldiers in the field wonder whether the impact of weeks of sand on weapons and vehicles can be measured.
"We've seen some problems, so far, that are mostly minor, but you sure don't have any idea what's gonna happen when the sand really kicks up," said a staff sergeant outside an Army camp a few miles from here. He spoke anonymously because he said he had been ordered not to talk to reporters who are not escorted by military officers.
As he described his problems, the wind continually blew a layer of sand about a foot high across the desert floor. Occasionally, it gusted up into the air.
He said soldiers had wrapped their M-16 rifles in T-shirts and panty hose to protect them - a violation of regulations, but a necessity in the eyes of the men.
Jaber Jumah, a Saudi astronomer and weather expert, said sandstorms and rain would increase by the end of February, about the time some are predicting a ground war will start.
"The weather we get in March and April is very windy, with lightning and rain," said Jumah. "It comes around dusk, but is very unpredictable. They are like mini-tornadoes and you don't know the direction it will come from."
Equipment already in place has been exposed to sand for months, in some cases, and the exposure is causing headaches for maintenance crews. The sand is so fine it slips through filters and permeates seals in all sorts of equipment.
Some of the biggest worries center on the impact of weeks of sand on Apache and Cobra helicopters. These aircraft would play an integral role in a land war by destroying Iraqi tanks with their missiles and providing cover fire for advancing U.S. troops.
But they are already showing signs of strain from the sand.
During training before the war, sand began eroding the leading edge of helicopter rotor blades. Crews tried applying an epoxy tape to the edges. But here in the north, where the sand is finest, the tape must be changed after almost every flight.
by CNB