Along the Way

ALONG THE WAY Arizona Dust . . . No Tank (or Car) Can Do without This 'Awful Stuff'

Not to take anything away from a half-million proud American veterans, but 1991's Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait was won singlehandedly by Joseph Prophet in 1942. Not only did Prophet decide a war a half-century before it began, he helped to create a product that became a global standard and launched a small but thriving Arizona industry. The product: Arizona Dust, used the world around for testing filters, torturing machinery, and infiltrating electronic equipment.

At this writing, to lend credence to his claim, Joe Prophet was still on hand to testify from his retirement home in Sun City. At 99, Joe expected to continue bragging (a bit tongue-in-cheek) about Arizona Dust well into his second century. Said he: "It was, and is, wonderful and awful stuff."

The origin of this awful wonderfulness dates to early World War II, when the U.S. Army invaded North Africa to take on the armored forces of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Germany's "Desert Fox." Within days American tankers realized their greater enemy was Africa's Sahara Desert. The combat life of our tracked vehicles averaged half an hour. More were put out of action by dust than hostile fire. In Detroit, General Motors automotive experts - makers Of military engines - were summoned to secret emergency sessions. Then a leading GM engineer, Prophet recalled: "We were losing engines faster than we could make them. We decided to go to Arizona, where we knew the dust was bad. We gained permission to use a piece of the Pima reservation south of Phoenix [Gila River Indian Reservation] and hired some cowboys to herd experimental tanks around a quarter-mile circle.

"The lead tanks kicked up a huge dust cloud. Following them, our test drivers drove blind. They knew they were on course when they couldn't see a thing.

"We found that if one bolt was loose, or if there was the slightest crack in the tank armor, dust would pour in like the very devil. The big M-4 tank was equipped with six air cleaners. They'd trap 90 pounds of dust in 56 miles, but nine pounds entered the engine.

"Soon we improved air filters to 99.6 percent efficiency, and in its own way, Arizona dust helped win the war."

Roles for Arizona dust did not end with the Big One. Now as a trademark item, Arizona Dust gained acceptance as a standard by industries making electrical parts, automotive components, ventilation systems, and armaments. Space hardware, atomic devices, and modern electronics thereafter were subjected to the rigors of Arizona Dust.

Prior to battle with Iraqi forces, doomsayers predicted that Allied equipment would be defeated by the shamal, the notorious sandstorms of the Arabian Peninsula.

"Dusty, blinding winds could ground allied warplanes and halt troop movements for hours or even days at a time"Stinging sand, as fine as talcum powder, can clog air filters, overheat the engines on military vehicles and aircraft, scratch and erode rotor blades and other moving parts, and jam sensitive weaponry."

And so on. But solutions for most of these things had already passed muster with Arizona Dust. And Desert Storm succeeded.

For Arizona, one bonus of early vehicular research is the proliferation of automotive test tracks in the state. Among the first was the 5,000-acre GM Proving Ground near Apache Junction; today some 400 fulltime employees test GM vehicles, parts, and paints in the desert environment. Also given extensive Arizona tests are products from Ford, Chrysler, Volvo, Nissan, Jaguar, and Toyota. Many use jars of Arizona Dust. The clay-free earth continues to be harvested from the original site. Whenever needed, usually in the dry season of May and June, at the direction of Pima tribal leaders, Indian workers quarry Arizona dust. It's sifted into steel drums. The Indian nation is paid a fee for each collection.

The grit is shipped to Powder Technologies, Inc. of Minneapolis, where it is processed and distributed to test facilities around the world. At first Arizona Dust sold for $2.50 a pound. Today the dust is still a bargain, costing no more than $3.75 a pound when bought by the jar and as low as $3.07 per pound when bought by the 55-gallon drum.