No One Could Have Imagined…
that the V-22 May Need New Engine.
OK, almost immediately after arrival in the area the “spanner spinners” responsible for keeping British equipment working, raised hell because vehicles where shipped to Iraq without “desert” air filters, and the special air filters weren’t readily available.
Ever seen David Lean’s film, Lawrence of Arabia? Did you notice the abundance of sand? Ever heard of “sandpaper” or “sand blasting”? What do you think happens if an engine sucks in a lot of sand? Think there just might be some wear on mechanical devices in a sandy environment?
Everything, and I do mean everything, experiences erosion when exposed to the sand filled air in Iraq. Paint is worn down, windows get scratched, clothing takes a beating. The best you can do with engines is use special desert air filters. They are problem for jet engines because they restrict the flow of air and get clogged quickly. The time periods for routine maintenance are radically reduced in desert warfare and no one should have been surprised that the engines on the V-22 were going to require a lot of maintenance.
Planning for equipment maintenance and repair based on conditions when the equipment is at a US garrison is just incredibly stupid when you launch a desert war.
6 comments
Well, hell. We were planning on only being there for six months according to Rumsfeld and Cheney. Who could have imagined that we’d still be there five years later?
The jet engine guys who deploy out of here say the sand in Iraq is a special form of hell for them. It’s finer than most standard filters are designed for and it contaminates all of the lubricants almost as soon as they’re opened, so cleaning parts for reassembly is nearly impossible in the tents or temporary structures.
The 130 gunships have too many hours on them and the props don’t last.
The problem is that when you invade with an overwhelming force, the opposition won’t meet you in open combat, it would be stupid. A guerrilla war was always going to happen. The Iraqi commanders had to remember what the highway out of Kuwait was like in the first Gulf War, so they weren’t like to offer a major battle knowing the Air Force would turn them into smoking paste in short order.
We didn’t even bother to arrange a surrender, which would have been the logical time to agree on security arrangements and an end of hostilities.
The combination of ignorance, arrogance, and insanity in this entire fiasco is beyond any military norm. We were still flying fighter patrols over Iraq a dozen years after the first Gulf War, so what would make anyone think this was going to be quick and easy?
I don’t think it was meant to be quick and easy, I think it was meant to draw us into a larger war, and this is still the intention of those who want to attack Iran and Syria.
Sort of gives a whole new meaning to the term “sandblasting”.
I’ll somewhat agree with Michael – I think the war was calculated to last at least until the 2004 election.
There’s sand in Iraq? Who knew? Maybe it’s one of those unknown unknowns that were unknown.
Those who are capable of long-range planning, the neo-cons, had their plans executed by a group that wears name tags so they don’t forget who they are.
True believers never have a back-up plan because they won’t accept the possibility that their plan can fail. The assumption would seem to be that the “great idea” is so obvious that everyone will fall into line and accept it once it’s revealed.
They always have ready excuses, created in advance, should things go awry, being “stabbed in the back” is always number one on the list.
They believed in the domino theory in Southeast Asia, and thought that the same thing would happen in Southwest Asia.
Rumsfeld based everything on precise calculations of the metrics, not understanding that all of the metrics would change as soon as the first weapon was fired, and finally realizing that he didn’t having any true metrics of what was going on. The desperation resulted in wading deeper into the quicksand and stranding us there.
I give a high probability that they thought that wiping out Saddam would result in all of the neighboring countries falling into line with the Pax Americana and they would be free to loot the oil reserves.