Let it Snow!

[Jim von Krieg]

Chuck,

When I arrived at Drum, I had my 4x4 because I knew I needed to be prepared. However, I hadn't seen that amount of snow until I was at Drum. That lake effect snow can really power up the snowfall. Our first place had a beautiful view of the Black river, but overall I was too busy doing Army things. We also had a "microburst" while I was there. It's like a tornado except the wind is vertical instead of horizontal. We had trees and tree limbs down everywhere and were without power for a week. We deployed generators to assist the dairy farmers run their milking machines. Oh I have so many Fort Drum stories. I found out later one of my buddies was in the field the day the big snow storm hit. It was so bad, they had to abandon the vehicles and ruck in. I bet that really sucked.

Rod,

It would appear you went by in the summer time. You were lucky, because Drum can get downright nasty on occasion (December through February). I just remember the morning Physical Training. Snow Shoe PT, cross country ski PT, and my favorite 4 mile run on a foot and a half of ice. When I was there the policy was no outdoor PT if the temperature was -40F or below. Well, we are running 3 miles at -38F AND we're the only chuckleheads outside. You have to breathe through the balaclava and you can't close your eyes or your eyelashes freeze together. As for Mount Fuji, I climbed it when I was stationed there, but it definitely wasn't winter.

All I can say now, is I like Arizona. Even with it's little bit of snow it won't be -60F. We're just a few feet below a mile high on base so it will get a little bad weather, but there is definitely no lake effect.

Take care,

Jim