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Questions and answers about the war:

Q. From what height do paratroopers drop? What do they do with their chutes once they land?

A. Drop distances can vary according to aircraft and type of parachute. Drops like the one in northern Iraq are generally made from 500 feet a little more than a third the height of the Sears Tower. It typically takes less than 10 seconds from that height for a paratrooper to hit the ground. Once they land, paratroopers recover, re-pack and carry their chutes.

Q. Will major sandstorms return to Iraq soon?

A. No large sandstorms are expected through the end of the coming week, according to meteorologists at AccuWeather. Temperatures in southern Iraq may rise to 90 to 100 degrees starting Wednesday.

Q. How much does a standard-issue U.S. rifle weigh?

A. Without an ammunition magazine, an M16 rifle weighs 6.8 pounds; variations such as the M16A2 and M16A3 can weigh up to 7 1-2 pounds. A loaded magazine with 20 rounds weighs about 11 ounces; a 30-round magazine weighs about 16 ounces.

Q. Do National Guard units in Iraq stay together, or are they broken up, with their members going into a variety of different units?

A. Both. It depends on the mission, and on whether the unique specialties of a unit member are needed somewhere else.

Send questions to warquestions(at)ap.org. Questions can be answered only through this column.

Associated Press researchers Barbara Sambriski, Susan James and Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

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