I spent several training sessions at Ft. Irwin before it was the NTC, I believe it and 29 Palms are a lot alike. :)
The High Desert looks all about the same, and that is why the Military trains out there. Such a wide open spaces and very few civillians in the area that they could blast just about anything they wanted and not worry about the eco-wacco’s getting in the way!
When I had RE-enlisted in 1996 I WANTED to go back to my desert to work. I am one of those people the the desert got into my blood, & I can’t seem to get it out. I miss the smell of the area after a rain, the winds blowing sand at such a force that it would scrach glass, strip paint off of equipment, the warm sun warming your bones on a summer’s after noon, sigh........
I have told my wife that if I ever won the lottery, just foreward my mail to either the Stumps or Yuma, AZ.