It is been an extremely dry fall here where I live in Kentucky and as a result the fire danger is way up. But that hasn’t stopped the military from conducting fire-causing exercises at nearby Fort Knox. 
Training at Fort Knox this fall has caused the most fire on the post in nearly 25 years, including the burns that blanketed Louisville with smoke two weekends ago.
According to the Ft. Knox commander,
(M)ilitary exercises that involve everything from tanks to rifles can’t stop just because of drought that has produced tinder-dry conditions. Troops need to be trained, including 3,500 that will soon be deployed to the war in Afghanistan, he said.“You don’t want us to stop training,” he said.
Yeah actually we might want you to do that because,
The fires sent fine-particle levels soaring at some Louisville air monitors. The smoke caused the Air Quality Index to reach 183, the highest in at least eight years, said Matt Stull, spokesman for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.
At that level, the air is considered unhealthy for everyone — not just people who may have asthma or other lung ailments. Residents were advised to limit their outdoor activity.
So there you have it, the U.S. military is defending us by making it impossible for our own citizens to breathe. Makes sense to me.
