Soldiers fighting in the Middle East must cope with sandstorms and missile attacks, said the Kuwait-based father of a Kansas University student.

But morale, he said, remains high.

Army Maj. Bruce Archambault Jr. called Friday from Kuwait to Lawrence, after his daughter Stacey’s story appeared in the Lawrence Journal-World, to give an update on the war’s progress and his own experiences.

“I was up on the border today,” said Archambault, who would not reveal his unit or precise location. “The soldiers are doing just awesome. I took some photos, and I’m going to send them back to their families.”

Archambault said morale was high among soldiers, even though they had heard news of war protests in America and criticisms of the Bush administration’s war planning.

“They’re a bunch of young liberal kids,” he said of protesters. “I’ve heard 68 percent of Americans support this war, and what we’re doing. I’m not worried about it.”

Archambault was stationed at Fort Leavenworth for 3 1/2 years before graduating from the Command and General Staff College there last May. He is now stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Edgewood, Md., but has been deployed to Kuwait.

He said criticism of the war strategy was unwarranted.

“People got spoiled the first time,” Archambault said of the four-day ground war in 1991 to liberate Kuwait from Iraq. “Remember, this time they (Iraqis) are defending their homeland. What if somebody invaded America?”

Stacey Archambault is a KU sophomore. Her brother, Bruce Archambault III, is a Leavenworth High School senior who will enter Army basic training in June.

Maj. Archambault admits the new war has given him second thoughts about his son’s choice.

“It makes you think twice,” he said. “When it’s just you, you know what’s going on and you know you’re alive; you don’t worry about it. It’s the younger guys who want to be heroes — I’ve volunteered less on this trip than before, you know?”

Though he is stationed to the rear of advancing U.S. forces, Archambault said his mission still was dangerous.

“This has been a much more intense, violent war — the way war is usually portrayed,” he said. “Running for cover, I’ve had explosions around me. The first war, I was heavy artillery, and we charged across the desert without hardly stopping.”

“We’ve had Patriot missiles come to our rescue a couple of time,” he said. “The missiles were headed right for us, and the Patriots saved us. The explosions were right overhead.”

Unlike the last war, technology has allowed him to stay in near-constant contact with his children. There are daily e-mails, he said, and occasional phone calls.

Archambault gives high marks to his fellow soldiers.

“I was so impressed with these kids I talked to. It’s just amazing how positive they are,” he said. “It’s ugly here, but everybody’s upbeat.”