Off the I-15

The Desert Dispatch is not the only media outlet interested in the happenings at Fort Irwin. Each rotation, more than 20 different television stations, newspapers, magazines and other media-types trek out to the desert to capture the training the occurs there.

Recently, CBS News and “Army,” the magazine of the Association of the United States Army, have published looks at Fort Irwin.

The CBS News piece, “Turning Enemies into Allies,” can be seen here. It was filmed during a rotation in June and features footage of some of the role players from the Barstow area who now work in the box.

The AUSA Army piece is in their July 2008 issue. “Between Hollywood and Hell,” by Dennis Steele is an in depth look at how the Iraq war is recreated in the Mojave Desert.

Apparently he doesn’t want to make a big deal (or no deal) out of it, but Fort Irwin’s own Brig. Gen. Dana JH Pittard was on spotted on NBC’s “Deal or No Deal.”

The commanding general at Fort Irwin presented the show’s contestant, Shequila Farrelly with a National Training Center coin, given out as a symbol of excellence. Pittard said he wanted to thank Shequila, whose husband is a soldier at Fort Hood and bound of Afghanistan, for her role as a military family.

“The sacrifice, the selfless service of all our soldiers is so important,” Pittard said on the show, “but just as important is the sacrifice and the service of our family members just like you Shequila.”

In a post-show interview, Shequila, who also got to meet Ellen DeGeneres and walk away with $36,000 — not a bad deal — said she was honored to have Pittard on the show with her.

“For him to show up and give this to me was incredible,” she said. “That Shequila was presented this coin was amazing.”

Watch Pittard in this post-show interview clip from www.nbc.com. Pittard comes on with about one minute and 36 seconds left to go in the clip.

Pittard on “Deal or No Deal”

Aaron Aupperlee | city editor

The newly opened skate park on Barstow Road was full of people skating, biking and just taking in the scene on Tuesday. For those of you that missed the opening here’s a video.

-David Heldreth Staff writer

Download:

A little more than a month ago I got a flat tire while driving through town and discovered I didn’t have a jack in my car. I was stuck waiting around in the midday Barstow sun until a friend brought me a jack to change the tire.

While that wasn’t any fun, I can just imagine how metal band and Ozzfest tour member Nile felt when their tour bus broke down on the I-15 near Barstow. The band was stranded in Barstow before being towed to the Hyundai Pavilion in Devore by Freedom Towing.

I got word of the breakdown from Sports Editor Matthew Peters who discovered it on a post at blabbermouth.net. Calls and e-mails to the band and their management were not returned, and I attempted to track down the bus by calling every tow company in Barstow to confirm the rumor.

Nile were forced to use vans to play a show at the Hollywood House of Blues and to cancel a date in Phoenix due to the bus difficulties. Nile later rejoined the Ozzfest in Albuquerque.

Nile apparently isn’t the only band to breakdown in Barstow. Check out this video Michael Franti of Spearhead filmed during his adventure in the desert.

— David Heldreth

No one offered to run up to Vegas and get married like thousands of other couples on 7-7-07, but a crew from the Desert Dispatch did meet at a gas station on West Main Street to try their luck with lottery tickets. The results? Less than lucky.

Check it out for yourself.

Feeling a little hot? Check out this cool video about Kar Ice, the High Desert’s largest ice manufacturer.

Then check out the story at www.desertdispatch.com