Dust

I'm currently working at a site where they are doing a lot of excavating and moving dirt around, so thanks to the high winds today we got quite a little dust storm right around that area. From what I hear the "real" ones put this one to shame, but it was still pretty annoying in our little area, down range from all of the dirt.



Here's a shot of the dust, you can kind of tell how bad it is. Before I edited the picture it looked just like a grey, washed out photo because of the dust, but I think this looks better. At the heaviest times I couldn't see beyond 15 feet in front of my truck. Usually the gusts didn't last that long though.



There are piles of water bottles like this all over the base, so people can stay hydrated. This one is very dirty from the dust blowing on it.



Even in my truck you can see all the dust that accumulated on my M-16 after only about 30 minutes.



They left a poor guy out in the storm to watch the gate. I felt bad for him but I couldn't let him in my truck for security reasons. He took that desk out of the guard shack and put it out there to huddle up under. They eventually came and got him and put him to work somewhere else, out of the dust.



The sunset was nice at the end of the day, even here in Iraq. 

Here is a video of the dust blowing, you can kind of see it anyway. You can also see the little guy huddled in his previous spot before he moved.



Being deployed is kind of how I expected the military to be before I came in. Mostly in the way that everything is free, housing, food, snacks, water, rides, etc. It's a self-contained little city and you can just take whatever you want because the military provides everything. But, that isn't how it is back home. You get a couple hundred bucks for food, which doesn't cover what you need, then you get a little pay for housing, which doesn't cover what you need if you live on base, you have to pay for snacks and all food because they are fund-raisers for the squadrons, you have to buy your own uniforms after basic training, unless you deploy, etc. In that way I enjoy being deployed. It's nice to eat what you want and it all be paid for, get free snacks and water, free movies, free bus rides,  etc.

As I've moved around the base I've seen a few convoys on their way out for a patrol, I'm definitely glad I don't have to do that. The trucks they use in the convoys now remind me of some sort of crab that just finds any random object on the bottom of the ocean to live in and carries it around on its back. There are all kinds of things on those trucks that look like they were just randomly welded on. It's quite clear that the overall design was not there from the beginning, they've just pieced things together as they became available, adding extra armor here and there, various antennas and jammers, etc.

I've had a little interaction with the Army as well and am glad I picked the Air Force. They are much more "military" and it's just a completely different culture than the Air Force, especially the Space Command that I work in. We are probably some of the most laid-back in the AF as far as military behavior is concerned, so even a little interaction with the Army is strange. They swear that they know all about our secret "fan-girls" in our rooms that fan us while we lounge on our bed, and bikini parties on the weekends. Obviously they feel that we are pampered and spoiled compared to the Army quality of life, and we probably are in comparison to what they go through. But hey, they weren't drafted, they could have tried to get into the Air Force instead and enjoyed the same benefits!