Red Sky

We’ve had a couple of dust storms over the last few days. The wind blows hard from the northwest and the air fills with a fine grit that you can feel in your eyes, throat, and deep down in your lungs. You can literally smell the dust in the air and taste it on your mouth. The sky takes on an a twilight pall like orange sherbet, the sun completely obscured. The dust finds it’s way through the crevices in our office tent and covers everything with a thin film that drifts thicker in the corners and the places we don’t walk. The dust holds in the heat, so even at 10 o’clock the other night, it was still well over 100 degrees.














View toward the helicopter LZ at FOB Kalsu during dust storm.
They call it "red sky" here. The helicopters don’t fly and the soldiers don’t like it because al Qaida uses the severe storms as cover to plant IEDs. Waleed, one of our BBAs (bi-lingual bicultural advisors), told me that the frequency of dust storms has increased in recent years and that it is unusual to have them at this time of year. Now we’ve had two in the last three days. There is some speculation that the lack of vegetative cover because of the dilapidated state of the irrigation system is a contributing factor. Others suggest this is another manifestation of global climate change. In any event, it is an interesting weather phenomenon, unusual to most of us and occasionally inconvenient those with travel plans. The other day I was able to get the last seat on a helicopter carrying the general in charge of British forces here to the Euphrates Fish Farm, one of the largest in Iraq. I was very excited to finally have the opportunity but my hopes were dashed when we were informed that a dust storm was on it’s way. Dang! Several on the team have come down with the "Kalsu Krud," a hacking cough deep in the chest and difficulty being able to speak. So far, so good for me, but I can definitely feel the effects on my breathing.

Today we presented our report to the base command and others. It was well-received and generated lots of interesting discussion about follow-up and implementation. For my part, I am pushing to get some new carp broodstock here from Hungary. I’ve initiated some contacts and hope to be able to follow through, perhaps with help with transport from the Army.

Tomorrow we move to FOB Endeavor in Najaf Province. Everyone here at FOB Kalsu and Babil Province has been great and very supportive of our work. Time is passing quickly and I hope to make the best of the time remaining.