A friend of mine is in the military and is serving in Iraq. He left a few months ago and will be deployed for a year and a half. We have been communicating via e mail, so I have been able to follow his deployment and get a tiny glimpse into what it must be like for him. When he left, I pictured him living in a tent in the wind and sand. To my surprise, they are living in these prefab steel buildings.

I was quite relieved to know he would be more protected in steel buildings than in a tent city, but I still did a little digging to find out more about these structures. I was distracted by the idea of those trucks on the highway carrying part of a house with a sign slapped to the back announcing "wide load." I knew my friend would be living in something more substantial than that, but I needed to see for myself.

A quick search for steel buildings yielded a handful of companies that provide them for numerous purposes. The Government Services Administration has approved a lot of steel buildings for government use, including use by all branches of the military. Commercial boat yards, farmers and auto mechanics use steel buildings for storage, service areas and retail. A structure can be chosen, shipped and erected within a very short time frame. There is little unused space in steel buildings. They require little maintenance, as they have no siding or gutters.

Home owners can see the advantages of steel buildings over traditional structures too. Steel buildings are offered in various basic models. These steel buildings can be put together in a couple days with the help of a handful of people. The majority of the construction can be done on the ground without special tools. People often purchase these buildings for garages. I remember my grandparents building a new steel garage on their farm when I was growing up. A construction crew built it from soup to nuts. Had these prefab steel buildings been available back then, I am sure they would have chosen that as an easier and do it yourself route. They would have probably chosen one of the companies that advertises that their buildings are 100 percent American made from US steel.

It was interesting to read about the GSA approvals, ease of construction, cost effectiveness and low maintenance of steel buildings. For my friend who is deployed, the fact that they are made of good old fashioned strong steel is probably what is most important.