Hello
S
Steven Jealouse
, I've never served, but my best friend (he was my best man and I was his at our respective weddings) was an artillery officer, like your son, and I gave him a few knives while he was serving.
The first knife I gave him was actually a very inexpensive Sanrenmu 710 that I gave him right before his first deployment because he didn't have a decent knife of his own to take. The Sanrenmu is very inexpensive (and some people dislike how strongly they... borrow from the Sebenza, but no one is ever going to confuse the two knives), but it is solid and I have given a number of them away as gifts (since they are so cheap they are easy to add on to an order to have around as a gifting knife), and everyone I have given one to has loved it. My friend the artillery officer was no different. He carried it through his first deployment, and it served him very well. If this was now I would have had fancier knives to give him, but at the time the Sanrenmu was the best I could do.
Because he was an officer, like your son, there really wasn't any problem with him having/carrying as appropriate a fixed blade while deployed. So for his second deployment (I had just gotten a nice check for a bit of writing) I got him a very nice Spartan Harsey Model II (well out of your price range, and discontinued in any case). It was really more of a something-really-cool-to-carry kind of gift, and he helped me pick it (out of options I offered him). It really wasn't something that an artillery officer has much use for unless things have completely gone disastrous, but he said it actually got a surprising amount of use opening recalcitrant boxes.
He never lacked for decent multitools (those got issued), and the fixed blade was really just for fun, but the decent folding knife was really the thing that was the most use to him the most often, while at home or abroad. So my advice is to give him a good solid folding knife, preferably with a good steel. I also like to push US made products. And since ACUs have flaps on the back pockets, I think it is best to give tip-up carry knives for safety (I personally prefer tip-down, but I wear jeans and prefer back pocket carry), so that the tip would open into a seam if it opened in the pocket.
So, if I were you, I would look for a good quality (but not too flashy), USA made, tip-up carry, modern folder. There are a lot of great options in your price range. The two that pop into my head right this moment are both special editions of Buck knives offered by (BladeForums supporting vendor)
@skblades. If you go to his site (I assume it is okay to link directly since he is a supporting vendor?
https://www.skblades.com/shop) he has a couple options I think would be great for your son, particularly the "Maverick" and the "Operator."
But you have a lot of good options suggested already. Good luck, and the best to your son. I am sure you are feeling very proud