SpecOps
04-12-2005, 04:04 PM
Just spent a year in lovely sunny sunny Baghdad. So I thought I might drop my suggestions for what to send to troops who replaced us (I was with the 1st CAV).
The #1 thing to collect, save and send are magazines. Don't send DVDs unless your troop specifically requests them. There is a BOOMING bootleg market over there and I garuntee you your soldier is seeing movies waaaay before you get a chance to go see them in a theater and he is doing it at between $2 and $5 a disc. Magazines magazines magazines, and I mean ANYTHING. Box'em up and ship'em over they will be cherished and passed around and get incredible mileage. If I found something I hadn't read yet, even if it was from 2001 I gobbled it up and then passed it on to someone who hadn't gotten a chance to read it yet.
A lot of the soldiers over there are having to do shift work at a radio or computer at some point in time and it can get awfully boring but you still can't watch a DVD nor can you get involved enough in a book b/c stuff will be happening every 5 minutes or so, so magazines are perfect to help pass the time.
Try not to send toiletries either, I assure you there are enough baby wipes stacked in mountains in that country that the Iraqi government could start to export them and not have to worry about selling oil for a few more years.
Just my suggestions from one who has embraced the Suck.
Stay Safe,
Brett
The #1 thing to collect, save and send are magazines. Don't send DVDs unless your troop specifically requests them. There is a BOOMING bootleg market over there and I garuntee you your soldier is seeing movies waaaay before you get a chance to go see them in a theater and he is doing it at between $2 and $5 a disc. Magazines magazines magazines, and I mean ANYTHING. Box'em up and ship'em over they will be cherished and passed around and get incredible mileage. If I found something I hadn't read yet, even if it was from 2001 I gobbled it up and then passed it on to someone who hadn't gotten a chance to read it yet.
A lot of the soldiers over there are having to do shift work at a radio or computer at some point in time and it can get awfully boring but you still can't watch a DVD nor can you get involved enough in a book b/c stuff will be happening every 5 minutes or so, so magazines are perfect to help pass the time.
Try not to send toiletries either, I assure you there are enough baby wipes stacked in mountains in that country that the Iraqi government could start to export them and not have to worry about selling oil for a few more years.
Just my suggestions from one who has embraced the Suck.
Stay Safe,
Brett