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Monday, February 16, 2004 1st ID gets taste of sandstorms By Steve Liewer, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Monday, February 16, 2004 Steve Liewer / S&S Spc. Rocco James, 29, of Gallup, N.M., left, and Spc. Jason Cole, 25, of Elizabeth City, N.C., hunker down against a strong sandstorm — one of the first of the season — Friday afternoon. The desert sandstorms, called shamals, began this week and typically continue all spring, with one every three or four days through April, Air Force meteorologists said. Steve Liewer / S&S Winds in Friday's storm topped out at 40 mph, said Capt....

No military unit pushed farther and faster into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom than the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. In just 21 days, through raging sandstorms and nearly continuous combat, the division charged 400 miles from Kuwait to Baghdad. It was a remarkable achievement for the storied division, known as the "Rock of the Marne" since World War I for its steadfast determination in battle as units around it retreated. But ongoing problems in resupplying the division in Iraq last spring with essentials such as fuel and ammunition continually threatened the operation, according to a report recently issued by division...

This is the second of a series of stories detailing events and people who served in Iraq. The series continues next Tuesday. CHERRY POINT -- Despite the temperature extremes, dust storms and the underlying threat of nuclear, biological or chemical attacks posed by the war in Iraq, medical staff members from Halyburton Naval Hospital brought back stories of a warm welcome by the Iraqi people, and a sense of pride in the humanitarian aid they were able to provide during their three-month deployment. "From what we saw, the Iraqi people were very glad to have us there," said Senior Chief...

<p>Chanting "Saddam no, Bush yes," some 200 Iraqi prisoners of war were let go Sunday at the coalition's main internment camp in the desert near the southern port of Umm Qasr.</p> <p>The men, many of them barefooted, shook hands with the American soldiers guarding the camp before boarding buses and trucks to be driven to nearby Basra, southern Iraq's largest city.</p>

CAMP BUCCA, Iraq April 27 — Chanting "Saddam no, Bush yes," some 200 Iraqi prisoners of war were let go Sunday at the coalition's main internment camp in the desert near the southern port of Umm Qasr.The men, many of them barefooted, shook hands with the American soldiers guarding the camp before boarding buses and trucks to be driven to nearby Basra, southern Iraq's largest city.Their departure brought to 700 the number of POWs released since Friday, said Maj. Stacy Garrity of the U.S. Army's 800th Military Police Brigade, which runs the camp. Around 5,800 more prisoners, including some from...

Sandstorms plagued the Black Watch, with sand getting into food, drinking water and machinery and coating any uncovered portion of skin with a hard-to-remove grime. 'After days of waiting, war came suddenly ... we were scrabbling for gas masks, jumping into trenches and troops were filled with a mixture of fear and excitement, wondering if they would ever come back' BATHED in the light of a moon not quite full, the tanks and armoured vehicles stretched out in columns across the desert resembled, at first glance, some picture from a child’s story-book of great and strange and unfamiliar beasts...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Apr 19, 2003 (Knight Ridder Washington Bureau - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Iraqi military commanders, certain they could never counter overwhelming American air power, thought they could defeat the United States by making a bloody stand for Baghdad that would so sicken the American public that the United States would withdraw its troops and go home. So Iraqi field commanders were surprised April 8, as they were preparing to battle American incursions into the capital, when they were ordered to withdraw and return to their bases north of the city, according to an Iraqi major...

April 13, 2003 Doubt and Death on Drive to BaghdadBy STEVEN LEE MYERS AGHDAD, Iraq, April 10 — The sandstorm lasted two days, sapping morale and twice turning the setting sun the color of blood. Lt. Col. Steven E. Landis called the slanting and choking sands "the wrath of Allah." Supplies of water and ammunition ran low in these first days of the war as Iraqi fighters launched unexpectedly fierce attacks on troops and supply lines that now stretched nearly 300 miles to the rear. The Army's Third Infantry Division swept across the harsh, open deserts of southern Iraq in...

Weather experts are forecasting more sandstorms in Iraq next week, with temperatures starting their climb towards unbearable summer highs. After swirling sandstorms struck southern Iraq during the week, German forecasters are predicting more high winds in the coming week. "In southern Iraq and in Kuwait there could again be sandstorms because the wind will be strong," German independent weather service Wetter.com said. The forecasters, using data from Germany's national forecasting service DWD, say conditions will improve in Baghdad over the weekend but next week will be changeable. Searing heat Meteorologists in the United States say temperatures could soar to an...

Here on the frontline this conflict is taking its toll on morale. I can see the signs in the US marines I am with outside Nasiriyah. Quite a few of the troops have said to me that this isn't what they were expecting. They have had a tiring week of guerrilla-style fighting and it continues. They are frustrated that their political masters gave the American public the impression that it would be easier than it's turned out to be. But, also that they should have given them more expectation about Iraqi resistance like this. They don't want to admit they...

Iraq weather respite may only be temporary 16:35 26 March 03 NewScientist.com news service The fierce sandstorms and torrential rain that have hampered the invading US and UK military forces in Iraq improved on Wednesday. However, such weather is common at this time of year and is liable to play a continuing role in the progress of the war. Furthermore, the available weather forecasts suggest winds are likely to pick up again on Friday, threatening to once more ground aircraft and slow the advance of the coalition's ground forces. Winds of over 50 miles per hour whipped up sandstorms on...

<p>CAMP AS SALIYA, Qatar — Allied forces pounced on an Iraqi convoy as it left the urban cover of Basra and sought the surrender last night of Iraqi troops who survived the onslaught of coalition air power.</p> <p>A column of about 100 Iraqi vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, headed out of Basra southeast toward the allied-held Faw Peninsula.</p>

"Blue sky over Baghdad after two days of sandstorms Thu Mar 27 2003 01:43:32 ET Baghdad (dpa) - After two days a heavy sandstorm over Baghdad has subsided on Thursday. A blue sky over the Iraqi capital and surrounding countryside permitted a clear view. The storm had slowed down military activities and the advance of ground troops. Air attacks have continued despite the strong, dust-loaded storm." LET'S ROLL!!!!!!!!

Saddam Hussein may have gained a formidable new ally: General Sand. As sandstorms sweep through what used to be called Mesopotamia, the showdown outside Baghdad seems to have been postponed for a day, and much of the talk about sci-fi warfare has been lost in the gritty swirl. Tuesday much of the war was called on account of inclement weather. General Sand's offensive may be only a brief one. Even though the sandstorms have grounded the coalition's copters, its satellite-guided missiles continue to pound Saddam's strangely named Republican Guard. And the undaunted Seventh Cavalry is still on the move. Far...

Saddam Hussein's decision to send out armoured columns of the Republican Guard is an extremely high-risk strategy. He is relying heavily on the cover provided by the sandstorms to ensure that Apache attack helicopters and the 101st Airborne Division cannot join the fight. But they should be the least of his problems. The conventional wisdom was that the Republican Guard had no choice but to remain dug in around Baghdad. If it broke out, it would be cut to pieces by the sheer weight of allied airpower. Now that theory will be put to the test. Can the allied airpower...

<p>"...he sources estimated the column at about 120 vehicles, heading southeast along the main road toward Abadan. They said it appeared the Iraqis were using the sandstorm that had blanketed the region to try to sneak out..."</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. troops steeled themselves for a renewed push toward Baghdad after prevailing in fierce fighting near a key river crossing south of the city. In the capital, Tomahawk cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs knocked out Iraq's state-run television as the sun rose Wednesday as part of a package of strikes meant to cut off Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's communications. Army and Marine troops heading to a Euphrates River crossing about 90 miles south of Baghdad fought a running battle Tuesday evening. Military officials said more than 150 Iraqi fighters - possibly as many as 500 - were...

NEAR NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - A major battle between elite Iraqi and US troops loomed with a massive column of Iraqi forces reportedly heading south to meet American soldiers advancing on Baghdad. The movement was reported after US army troops said they killed about 1,000 Iraqis in three days of fighting around the town of Najaf, 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of the capital. CNN quoted US army officers as saying that a column of up to 1,000 Iraqi military vehicles was rumbling south from the town of Karbala, 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Najaf. Major John Altman,...

Allies Pound Iraqi Vehicles in Basra By DOUG MELLGREN and NICOLE WINFIELD .c The Associated Press NEAR BASRA, Iraq (AP) - British and U.S. aircraft pounded a convoy of Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles that was streaming out of the besieged southern city of Basra late Wednesday, British military sources said. The sources estimated the column at about 120 vehicles, heading southeast along the main road toward Abadan. They said it appeared the Iraqis were using the sandstorm that had blanketed the region to try to sneak out. Basra had been largely quiet for much of the day Wednesday, with...

Tuesday March 25, 11:48 PM Black Hawk, Apache helicopters missing in Iraqi sandstorm: US SOUTHWEST IRAQ (AFP) - A US Apache and a Black Hawk helicopter went missing during a heavy sandstorm in southern Iraq which cut visibility to just 100 meters (yards), a US officer told AFP. "At the moment one Apache and one Black Hawk are unaccounted for," said the senior officer with the Bravo Company aviation unit under the command of the 3rd Infantry Division at an unidentified point to the south of Nasiriyah. A sandstorm raging since 10:00 am (0700 GMT) halted a planned advance northwards...