Question for our Soldiers in the Sand Box

RussMo

RussMo

Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
6,254
Gents,

I have a question regarding deployment to the sand box. I have a young lad up here that is fixing to be deployed. My questions are these. This is his 1st time over so, What kind of mail system is in place now days??? I rember my days in but good Lord that was 36 years ago and when I was overseas they said wait for 4-6 weeks before your mail started showing.
What kind of camp or base store is there???
How much money can he keep on person???I already gave him a knife he wanted, but I was just looking for some other info for thing to do or send to him for the next year.

To all of our Service Men and Women I would like to say thank you for your service. There are many of us who visit this forum who are vets of past and present and we want y'all to know we care about you and want you home as soon as possible. Our love and gratitude will always be there with you.
Happy Thangsgiving folks
 
It really depends on where he ends up. On a major base/post, it can be relatively quick (7-10 days from the states). But, I've had stuff randomly take 5-6 weeks.
 
I received packages from the states both in Iraq and Afghanistan usually in 3-4 weeks but I have had packages arrive in as little as a 10 days, depends on where you are and if this young man is in a remote location but mail is a big thing for the troops so a good unit will push for mail delivery to be spot on.
 
Yep, about two weeks seemed to be the standard the last time I was over on an extended tour. Fortunately it's a real two weeks and not a "waiting for a Busse to ship" two weeks.
 
last time i was over there, 2 weeks with the occasional 4-6 weeks. be careful with the knives. i had an incident with a sticky fingered customs dip stick trying to keep my FBM going home. ended up having to put it in the arms room for the ride back. one of my friends wasn't so lucky and got his sebenza "confiscated".
 
Everyone's comments on shipping above is correct. Especially "As fast as 10 days and as slow as 4 weeks".

As far as what kind of store it really depends on where he is. I've seen some almost as big as a small Kmart and some smaller than country gas station (and some places nothing at all). If he does have a store once he gets there then he should have all of his essentials such as soap, toothbrush, limited reading material etc. Best thing would be to wait until he gets to his post and then ask him what he wants/needs that he can't get there.

As far as cash goes hell I guess he can keep his life fortune in cash if he wants to! Usually not a good idea though to keep large amounts of cash. I would usually just keep around $100 for "local" movies and random purchases. Most PX's there will take cards and he should be able to get more cash through finance.

My biggest advice is to wait until he gets over there to see what he wants/needs. I always bring stuff that I think I will need but end up never even using and once I get there think of things that I would never have back in the states. Hope that helps and let us know any other questions you have!
 
I have several relatives and friends that are either there or have just come back, so I have shipped alot of boxes. Mostly things like books they liked, candy, jerky and the occasional pocket knife. Just stuff they didn't have easy access to and that would bring a bit of home to them.

When I was in many years ago I was doing good just to get a letter and they meant more than anything else could have.

cricket
 
Two weeks is a good planning time. Remember that they need to fill a connex box stateside before it can ship, so if a package is the first to arrive, it might be a while before it ships, whereas the last to be loaded will go right away... Luck of the draw.

Wipes and talcum powder are two practical things to pack. Febreeze, too.

Tell that young man to keep his head on a swivel.
 
I spent 15 months in Baghdad in 08-2010 Ive had mail take as little as 7 days and as long as 1 month, the route scheduling, weather and unseen circumstances will mess up the timing
 
Oh, forgot to add, px supply can range GREATLY from base to base the px at liberty is like a walmart supercenter. at some outlying locations it can be more of the size of a convenience store, or even out of a trailer. My best advice is fwiw, wait till he gets where he is going and can take stock on what is available and whats not, that way you can send him his favor stuff he cant get over there and wont be guessing.
 
I sent some care packages to a buddy's son in Afghanistan. The first two arrived in about two weeks, the third in about 40 days...
 
I've done three deployments over, and mail is very good. There's actually more delay in country than anywhere else. In Baghdad I could get stuff in less than 1 week. The further out in the sticks you are the slower the mail (just like Stateside). If something takes more than 2 weeks it probably got miss-routed. Mail is contract labor, and works 7 days a week throughout Theater.

You can get just about anything through the mail (obvious exceptions). Packages do get scanned, and occasionally opened for inspection. Most retail sites (Amazon, NewEgg, Drugstore.com, etc) can and do a lot of business with soldiers. Main items restricted for sale and delivery by such retailers include electronics, drugs, furniture. There are some weird restrictions; I tried to get a couple alumium carrying cases delivered and couldn't.

Reality is that soldiers can get almost everything delivered to them in a very short time. Even if they don't have it in the local PX, and the PX has an amazing amount of stuff.

Things that were hard to come by were usually specialty items; local foods (moonpies at Mardi Gras time for the Southern Boys for example), magazines (the PX will carry the main titles like Time, Hot Rod, and Vogue, but they'll be about a month behind on the shelves. Stuff like Double Gun Journal, Grassroots Motorsports, etc are just not available unless sent from home.), less mainstream branded products, and homemade items. That last item is the most important. Homemade cookies beat anything in a commercial package hands down; mainly because we know the work that went into them. Homemade cards and pictures get top billing in display areas.

One thing I always send is dried fruit. Pineapple, mangos, papaya, cranberries, etc. Those are hard to find at the PX. Hot sauces (ther than Tabasco) are nice too.

The one thing I missed most (behind alcohol) was sausage and cheese. I did get a friend to send some dried salame and a brick of cheddar last time I was there, but that went too soon. You have to ship stuff like that in the winter months, because after March there's too much chance of it getting broiled in the 120+ heat and being spoiled. Nobody wants to get sick over there.

Cash - wierd subject. It's a major issue, maily because of the logistics. There is no coinage available other than what's been hauled over in pocket change. They use little paper pogs instead. Most places (including finance) will only issue a small amount (maybe $200) in cash at a time. All soldiers are supposed to use an "Eagle" cash card (a pre-loaded debit card). The problem is the weight and room that cash takes up. A small PX would require 2-3 shipping containers weekly for cash, that's a lot of valuable space, and a major security issue too. PX's will only give you $20 cash change at a time, so you'll spend a while making any serious bankroll. It's kind of stupid to have that much cash as there's no really good way to secure it. You can use a debit card to get cash, in multiple denominations, at banks (yes, they have them) and airports. I usually carried dollars, euros, Kuwaiti Dinar, and Iraqi Dinar.
 
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Gents, Thanks for the info!!! Were going over to his place this weekend for a little while so I'll sneak around and see what magazines he is into at home. I remember the hot sauce from my days. It's amazing how those little things can make all the difference.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving to all,
 
I know they are on a big push to keep American cash out of Afghanistan. We are all required to get a "cash card" now which may or may not prove to be useful. Obviously cash will be king in the bazaar, but not necessary anywhere else. We can even transfer money between each others cards using the ATM/kiosk deals that are on any established post.

Mail will all depend on location. We are planning for the worst in our AO since we'll be so reliant on air.
 
Stephen, thanks for the input Bro, funny thing is I know several of y'all outbound. Stay in touch Bro, I mean it!!! If I don't see ya before then Merry Christmas and by God Happy New Year my Brother. Watch your six and stay on your toes...
Later Bro,
Russ
 
We'll be good, Russ... I will stay in touch.

If we're still in town next weekend, we could catch some chow somewhere Saturday or Sunday if you're in town. Maybe some of the other Alaska forumites could show. Maybe I'll start another thread if that looks like its gonna be an option. I'll email you as well.

Have a great weekend.
 
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