The Soldier and the Desert: Sustaining Soldiers' Health and Performance During Deployment to the Southwestern American Desert.
Abstract
There are four deserts in the United States: the Mojave, Sonoran, Great Basin, and the Chihuahuan, which is the largest of the four deserts, with two-thirds of its area in Mexico, and the remaining one-third in western Texas and southern New Mexico. The total area covers 175,000 square miles and contains areas of high mountains, plains, desert basins, and mesas. The Fort Bliss area of the Chihuahuan Desert ranges in elevation from 3,800 feet to more than 8,000 feet. The terrain consists of: A flat desert basin known as the Tularosa Valley, an inter-mountain basin with 1-12 foot semi-stabilized sand duries that are moderately covered with mesquite bushed. The Otero Mesa east of the desert basin, has a broad, relatively flat, grass-covered surface. On the east, the Mesa gently slopes down to the plain; however, to the west, the sides of the Mesa from a sharp cliff that rises sharply from the desert basin. Mountain ranges around the Fort Bliss area include portions of the Organ, Franklin, Hueco (way-co), and Sacramento Mountains. Pinyon pines and junipers can be found in these mountainous areas. A smooth alluvial plain, in the southwestern flank of the Sacramento Mountains, formed by the deposit of the gravel and silts carried out of the mountains by water runoff. Creosote bushes dot the alluvial plains. Rainfall in the Chihuahuan Desert varies from 2.5 to 18 inches per year. Fort Bliss receives about eight to nine inches per year with some areas receiving more than twelve inches. Deserts are not just merely empty stretches of sand -- most deserts, like the Chihuahuan, sustain an intriguing variety of life (trees, cacti, other plants, animals, and insects), and is a place of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, wild storms, and dust devils.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA323503
Entities
Organizations
- United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine