Gift For Someone Going To Iraq
joshua1
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Registered User regular
A close friend of mine is headed to Iraq in a few months, Mechanised infantry. (or some such thing that we Australians have. All I understand is that he gets to tool around with AUS-Lav's) I want to get him something, but i've no idea. He's going for 6 months. Any help?
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Very helpful things, pending Australia's limitations (not sure how they compare to the US restrictions which seem pretty light):
-high quality toilet paper
-lots of books (if he's a reader)
-one of those spice shakers you can buy at a camping store (equivalent to the US's Academy, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, etc.), has a small plastic canister divided up into pie-shaped sections that each contains a different spice
-disposable, individually wrapped "wet naps" (wet napkins like you use to wipe your hands off after eating ribs, hot wings, etc.)
These were great according to friends of ours. Good luck.
Good books were also appreciated. Maybe some movies, or a favorite CD.
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Seriously, Im not sure on protocal, but Ive seen images of people in Iraq with iPods and other mp3 players. If hes allowed, that would make an excellent gift in my opinion.
Especially if its loaded with music/movies/podcasts...anything to help him fight off the boredom.
If you do get him anything electronic it would be wise to also get some sort of covering for it as depending on where he's at it could get pretty dusty.
Well it is a morbid thing to say, but i remember reading an article about how people were trying to buy soldiers' wishlists for them through donations, and it was pretty much all comprised of requests for better body armor than they were being issued, (and for some, any armor at all apparently) as well as things like better canteens, boots, etc. That stuff isn't cheap and the army sure isn't giving it to them, so i don't see how it's such a horrible gift other than perhaps rubbing it in their fce that they're going to be needing it, but when someone's going to Iraq, i think it's both the thought abd practicality that counts.
SAPI = Small Arms Protective Insert. Very handy, and not cheap.
Also, when I left, the PX was selling XBox 360s. Yes you can have them.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010
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Obviously, that kind of shit will have to wait until he sees where he'll be living.
As far as the mess goes, it varies. Again, you might want to wait until you see where he ends up...I was at a decently equipped airbase for the majority of my time, and our mess hall was more than adequate. I rarely bothered to eat anything else, and the spices provided were adequate.
TV seasons are fantastic. As time goes on, if you're savvy enough to do so, providing current episodes (say, a DVD full every couple weeks) for him of the shows he follows might be much appreciated...there's not much access to "current" TV there.
And yeah, open-ended games would not be a horrible idea. Civilization 3 was a favorite of mine while I was there (4 wasn't out yet).
All the more reason to have a credit card with an address based in the continental states. Parents' houses are usually the safest bet, because they don't tend to move.
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Its not really necessary for Aussie troops, they seem to patrol quieter areas. We've had no combat deaths, only a few injuries. You'd be better off supplying him with entertainment stuff - and maybe something group-oriented as an alternative to books and videogames (poker's all the rage, right?). Oh, and you probably can't go wrong with Iraqi language-learning stuff on the practical front, although I don't know where you'd get it.
If you wanted to be pointlessly morbid in here, something like "buy him a giant poster of Steve Irwin so his mob don't get mistaken for the enemy by the US troops" would be a bit more topical :? don't bother with a flag, they probably won't recognise it...
Also while I can't speak for Australia the US has more or less caught up on the body armor front. The guys don't necessarily have the latest and greatest (such as Dragon Skin) but everybody has Interceptor vests and SAPI plates, and just about everybody in my Battalion who left the FOB had ESAPI plates...and we were Guard, so basically at the ass-end of the supply chain. The whole body armor thing is largely, I suspect, old news that just never quite faded away.
Now vehicular armor, at least for US forces, is a whole different story. But I don't think you can afford that by a long shot. ;-)
And yes, even with videogames multi-player stuff is a pretty good idea...it's far to easy to isolate yourself, which just makes time go slower. And even a deployement as short as six months blows. Like I said, SSB was popular (with four controllers and lots of shit-talk) as was Halo (we had a large LAN set up for it).
Poker was also popular, as Cat mentioned. But that might be a bad idea if he has bad luck and he wants to spend his paychecks when he gets home!
Dominoes, Chess, Go, of the travel variety would all be good.
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We're not allowed to have porn. Not saying that people over there don't have it, but don't get caught with it. The closest thing you can have to porn is Maxim and American Curves. It's kinda stupid, that we're over there and can't have that kinda stuff. I never understood the whole "We're in their country, so we have to obey their customs" thing, since every base is considered US soil. All the other UN forces can have smut and booze and all kinds of other crap, but not us. =\
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I have no idea why he was infracted for this, because it's true. Soldiers supplement their issue kit with all sorts of privately bought pieces, and plenty infanteers I know have done it with body armour, being quite important and all.
Problems are: a) it's very expensive, thus the pools of donations that Sam was talking about (it's not morbid by the way mate, it's just the job - better that people know & talk about it than pretend it doesn't happen), and b) you've got to get the correct issue compatible stuff for whatever you use in Oz. Our lads welcome the stuff, since issue kit is totally overstretched, and even if they have body-armour, they jury rig the extra as protective plates for the doors of Landrovers etc (our body armour basically = big metal plates in a vest).
If you want to go with the luxury stuff, suggestions here are fine or whatever staves off boredom. But if you want to go with soldiering kit, ask your mate, he's the best one to tell you what he needs.
Er, one, it's necessary, believe me. Two, check out what they mean when they say 'a few injuries'. Decent protection means the difference between a large bruise & a Life Changing Injury. Both are classed as 'a few injuries', but that wee difference might matter to the poor bastard with the LCI.
Three, and most importantly, you have had combat deaths. Last time I looked, two of your soldiers had died in Iraq. Nobody who does this job much cares whether they were killed by enemy fire or not. They died on deployment serving their country, and whatever your personal opinions about the war or the military, the very least you can do is acknowledge that.