Pilots who flew missions during Desert Shield/Storm and had trained in the deserts of Arizona and the National Training Center may have noted some similarities in the dry lake beds and scrub terrain; but the shifting sand dunes of the deserts of Southwest Asia presented totally new hazards to helicopter crews, particularly during night vision goggle (NVG) operations. The combination of visual illusions, featureless terrain, and extreme temperatures creates unforgiving situations for NVG crews not trained in this environment. Today's pilots benefit from those lessons learned and have had 13 years to improve and hone those skills. This article reiterates those lessons learned since Desert Storm.