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-- A rescue team waded through high water in a dangerous operation Thursday afternoon to reach two cars stranded in rushing flood waters in Indian Bend Wash in North Scottsdale. The steady downstream flow of the Indian Bend Wash became too powerful for the drainage system at Indian Bend Road.Within minutes, three feet of rapidly running water was crossing over the road. Initial reports indicated that after one car had become stranded, at least two more drivers attempted to drive through the flooded area and got stuck. One of those drivers, however, eventually managed to drive out Firefighters then mounted...

Accompanying text and location map: Mastodon Arch

U.S. Marines Train with French Marines in Desert Troops learn how to survive in Africa where temperatures can reach 125 degrees. By U.S. Air Force Capt. Martin Gerst Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Public Affairs CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti, Aug. 2, 2006 -- Twenty-five U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman recently completed a 10-day desert training course conducted by a French Marine regiment from a neighboring camp.  Marines from the 4th Provisional Security Company here were invited by the 5th French Marine Regiment at Briere de L’Isle Barracks to participate in the course.  The goal of the course is...

WASHINGTON – It's a war memorial. It includes a cross. It is on public land. And while politicians use congressional maneuvers to keep the cross there, others say it's unconstitutional and should be removed. This sounds a lot like the cross atop Mount Soledad in La Jolla, but it's not. About 275 miles away in the Mojave Desert stands a far less prominent but nonetheless controversial cross that, like the Mount Soledad cross, has been the subject of lawsuits and court-ordered removals. Unlike Mount Soledad, however, the battle surrounding the desert cross at a place called Sunrise Rock has focused...

At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was just as dry and uninviting as it is today. But sandwiched between two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of plentiful rainfall and lush vegetation. During these few thousand years, prehistoric humans left the congested Nile Valley and established settlements around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers. The ancient climate shift and its effects are detailed in the July 21 issue of the journal Science. When the rains came Some 12,000 years ago, the only place to live along the eastern Sahara Desert was the Nile...

YUCCA VALLEY – It was an eerie scene, one that could have been lifted straight from an old Western movie: Dozens of buildings in historic Pioneertown were reduced to piles of twisted rubble and ash by a wildfire that had roared through the desert town. But, amazingly enough, the buildings that made the town famous, old western-style saloons and storefronts that once were props for movie cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, were spared by the flames. When the smoke cleared Wednesday, authorities counted some 30 Pioneertown-area buildings destroyed by the blaze. Not among them, however, were local institutions...

Iraqi security ‘Roars’ in the desert Story and photo by Spc. Rich Vogt 138 MPAD Iraqi security forces engage in operation Lion Hunt in western Ninevah Province. The operation was one of the largest by Iraqi Security Forces. TAL AFAR, Iraq -- Iraqi Security Forces conducted one of the largest operations in the western Ninevah Province, codenamed ‘Sandstorm’. Coalition forces were present but in a supporting role only. In the town of Seegar, a small village of about 5,000 in the Al Jazeera desert, the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Iraqi Army conducted door-to-door searches for wanted individuals and weapons. Iraqi...

For years desert nomads have spoken of the haunting songs of sirens which lure travellers to a waterless doom. Now, a French scientist has replicated the effect in his lab using grains of sand A strange sound rises from the cinnamon-coloured sand: a deep, almost hypnotic rhythm. It could almost be the chanting of Tibetan monks, yet the setting is rigorous and clinical – the laboratory of French physicist Stephane Douady, where a robot arm is pushing small, precisely measured amounts of sand down a plexiglass ring. Douady is a leading expert in a very narrow field. He is investigating...

Overcoming Iraq's desert By Claude D. McKinney Gulf Region North U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The operations technician checks gages in the Al Maman pump house. In the foreground is the generator engine and pump, center is the well-head and water pipe running through the wall to the water tank, in the corner is the chlorinator. (USACE Photo) Mosul, Iraq — Iraq is a desert. That should come as no surprise to anyone. However, Iraq is also blessed with water. Between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Iraq has more surface water than many of its neighbors. Because of the...

Neighbors Richard Doornbos and Al Embry have stumbled upon numerous mysteries of the Mojave Desert, but never anything like this. Last week, while walking in a large vacant field across from Sultana High School near G Avenue, the two found a 4-foot-long and ominously unmistakeable shark. The fish, which appeared to have been dumped just hours before, bore large spotted markings. A cursory Internet search suggests the shark is a Leopard Shark, a member of the triakidae family of houndsharks that might be displayed in an aquarium. But the size of this specimen suggests it would be much too large...

AL ASAD, Iraq (June 26, 2006) -- Sitting silently on a chair next to two humvees, a Marine listens to the continuous static of the radio, waiting attentively for the call that would have him and his Marines load up in the two vehicles and move outside the fences of Al Asad in a moments notice. The Perimeter Patrol Team with 2nd Platoon, E Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, is responsible for keeping the surrounding areas around Al Asad, Iraq, secure, as well as to establish a presence with...

Back at home, the TV news has been speculating over what sort of weather catastrophes the summer months might bring to an already battered Gulf Coast. But here, in this grimy desert town 65 miles south of the Arizona border, no one has to guess about what sort of horrors are in store. They're already happening. Triple-digit temperatures mark the annual, inevitable spiral toward the scorching heart of what's called the "season of death" — the time of year when the death toll of those trying to cross the border soars along with the mercury. Ever since the Clinton administration...

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An aviation archaeologist discovered the lost wreckage of a World War II bomber in the middle of the Mojave Desert. A military recovery mission is underway with the discovery of decades-old bones. “It's very, very...it's an emotional experience,” said U.S. Marines Captain George Murphy. “Even though we didn't know these men personally, we share a common experience.” On April 09, 1944, a B-24D Bomber went down during a training mission just southwest of the then Mojave Marine Corps Air Station. The coroner issued death certificates to the families of all ten men on board. And, the cause of the crash...

'Desert fish will help to feed the world' By Max Benitz (Filed: 05/06/2006) Deserts will produce much of the farmed fish and the clean power of the future, a United Nations report says. Aquaculture already thrives in deserts such as the Negev in Israel and Arizona, according to the report published to mark World Environment Day. It says saline water in desert wells and sunlight can be used to mimic tropical seas, making them ideal for farming fish and shrimp. Another benefit is that fish farming uses less water than the production of a vegetable crop. Many fish and algae...

U.S. Army 1st. Lt. Michael Miller, platoon leader, 2nd Platoon, Company D, 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, and his father Lt. Col. Jack A. Miller, provost marshal for Victory Base Complex in Baghdad, share some time together atop an M1 Abrams tank at Forward Operating Base O’Ryan. U.S. Army photo U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jack Miller Lt. Col. Michael Miller Father, Son Reunite in Iraqi Desert By Pfc. Paul J. Harris 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team BALAD, Iraq, June 2, 2006 — Being separated from family is...

More than 1,000 members of the British military have deserted the armed forces since the start of the 2003 Iraq war, the BBC has discovered. It comes as Parliament debates a law that will forbid military personnel from refusing to participate in the occupation of a foreign country. Some 900 have evaded capture since the Iraq war started, official figures say.

Ancient city reveals life in desert 2,200 years ago (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-05-22 14:58 Chinese and French archaeologists claim to have discovered the ruins of an ancient city which disappeared in the desert in Northwest China more than 2,200 years ago. The ancient city, shaped like a peach, is located in the center of the Taklimakan Desert, the second largest shifting desert in the world, covering a total area of 337,600 square kilometers, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The perimeter of the city walls is 995 meters, with the height ranging from three meters to 11 meters. Archaeologists found traces...

AL ASAD, Iraq (May 9, 2006) -- The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Marines with Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted training April 25, in Al Asad, Iraq, to enhance their skills under varied conditions. The CBRN Marines have in place an incident response team to deal with situations that involve the use of the four agents. "We've taken traditional Nuclear, Biological and Chemical doctrine and modified it for use in a nontraditional NBC threat environment," said Sgt. Chad W. Jenkins, response team leader, CBRN, from Portland, Ore. "Here, we have to stay ready to defend...

CAMP BEUHRING, Kuwait (April 18, 2006) -- Pilots and crews from Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 got a change of scenery outside of their cockpit windows when they flew off the USS Peleliu and into Kuwait for some desert sustainment training here April 12-27. The purpose of the training is to allow pilots to hone their skills, practice aerial maneuvers and landings and to become familiar with the desert terrain, said Capt. Kalle G. Kangas, schedule writer and CH-53E Super Stallion pilot, HMM-166, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego. HMM-166, along with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment...