Bad Info for Troops Deploying to South West Asia

(except when disarmed by airlines or cruiselines)

They've never managed to disarm me. I was at a conference on terrorism a few weeks ago. Several of us were having a casual conversation during a break with an Israeli counterterrorism expert. We'd been joking about (shaking our heads at) the total incompetency of US airlines and the TSA. Somebody mentioned the old ladies with their manicure scissors and plastic knitting needles. At that point I grinned and reached into my coat pocket to pull out one of the stainless steel ball-point pens that I routinely carry on board; three or four people (including the Israeli) nodded and pulled one from their own pockets. Sometimes I even decide that my knee's giving me trouble again and bring my cane with me. http://www.canemasters.com/ [wink] [wink] [wink]

Ken
 
MrsWildweasel said:
The only thing I'm waiting to hear on is to the cell coverage at Dix.

I've got Unicel, and was within my carrier on one side of post, and roaming on the other side of post, just a couple of miles away. That was this February.
 
About the knives, I figure Brett never told them he had them. The post policy was definitely ignored by his unit. Do the same thing with optics, send it after he gets in country.
 
Glenn looked up our plan with Cingular and there is one spot on the map that there isn't coverage. He looked up othe plans and alot have the same spot as no coverage. I know we had better coverage in Texas than my brother did.
 
it is not that can NOT have knives at Ft Dix, it is that they cannot have them in the barracks with them. So all they have to do is turn them in to the unit comand and have them hold the items until the day before they ship out. I tool at least seven sharp pointy things with me only one of which was less then three inches long. Besides, the PX there at Dix sells knives comparable to Kbars in size.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HAVE AT LEAST TWO GOOD KNIVES!!!

I even took a set of three throwing spikes with me. Which by the way came in extremely usefull on more occasions then I care to remember.
 
We have Alan's K-bar and another knife ready to ship over once he gets to Iraq. Apperantly Alan's command doesn't want to deal with the knives issue at Dix. So they are saying no knives with a blade more than 3 inches. As I said we already have a box set aside to ship over once we get an address from him. We did the last of his shopping last night. We hope. Now we just have to get some stencils and paint and put his name on his plastic foot locker. I think he's as ready as he's going to be. He figures he has a few more days that he doesn't have to think about it. Thanks for the help,he starts drill on Thursday so we'll see if there is anything else we need.
 
Well, we just got home from the send off. I mean Mrs and Mr WW. And they were the nicest family anyone could even meet.

It was a very good time, sad and happy all at the same time.

Thanks for everyone in this thread for their info and support.
 
I think the same of you and your family. Hows everyone doing? Alan joked with me and guess he kept count on how many times he saw me cry. Tell everyone to hang in there and we'll meet up soon.
 
They are doing well. And don't worry about it, I think that Nicolle used all three pouches of her kleenex. :D

She started at the same time you did when you left that last time. At least we all have the same thing to look forward too, and that will make this time somewhat easier.
 
I didn't use all mine,but close. Alan made me laugh so I guess I had to quit. I thought I'd be worse than I was. We'll start marking the calendar for their return.
 
Godspeed and I wish them a safe tour!

Sorry I didn't get to say so earlier, but I've been terribly busy lately.

C-pher, we could have met (sans brass) . . . we just walked in the door from No. Attleboro. Turns out that the scum I was trying to serve is cooling her heels in Dartmouth House of Corrections for perhaps the foreseeable future. Just had dinner at Yen Ching (formerly Dynasty) after leaving some money at Wrentham Premium Outlet (and walking all around the place for "exercise") and paid a visit to No. Attleboro PD to get some details on exactly where I can find this scum.

Glad that the send-off went well. We all salute our brave young men and women for protecting all of us!
 
C-pher,

My Wife's B'day is a week from Monday, so I wanted to get her a new watch or two (preferably with her choosing what she likes) and she needed to replace a watchband for a Timex . . . we ended up buying her two watches and myself one (atomic watch . . . I'll glow . . . again [twisted] ). Had a nice long chat with the manager of the Timex place (he was a Marine, retired from industry and now also teaches at U of Phoenix online) . . . very interesting guy.
 
Glad the sendoff went well. I was thinking of you yesterday. The time apart can only get shorter from here! :)

Please let me know if there is any way that I can be of service.
 
Hey, maybe i can give some information for those deploying to Afghanistan. As for Bagram which is where i am its quite modern, there is quite a bit of amenities. Jalalabad, Kabul and Kandahar are pretty much the same with slightly less as ive heard. If your at a COP/FOB expect much tougher conditions as expected. Ive talked to one army guy who bought a SAT dish and they all got internet, i think it was at a FOB but i def wouldnt expect to do that as it was expensive and a big team effort. If your at Bagram at least its acceptable to bring your laptop because you can get internet service thats very slow and at a high cost. There isn't a whole lot to do here other than work, eat and sleep. The power outlets at least around the base are normal that you would find in the states so no converters. Can't think of anything else but just drop me a line if you have a question.
 
Alcon,

I've glanced over your posts in this thread regarding questions about conditions for guys over there and whats needed, regs and such. First off thank you for caring about the guys downrange, everyone appreciates it and thank you for supporting us. If you have any questions or anything I can do to help the guys downrange please let me know, Im going back for my third time so I'm pretty familiar with Iraq.
 
hey all, new to the forums here. I was just there in baghdad 07-08. as far as laptops. yea the whole unit had them and if they didnt have one they bought one at the PX haha. as far as Escalation of force procedures? we used M-4s to knock back geeniuss iraqi drivers when the .50 would have turned them into puddles. We had the AP rounds. As far as weapons related items and what not its more dependant on the unit's mission. for instance convoy security you arent going to touch yyour 9mm for the most part. but if you are doing raids PTT tasks on the ground etc. Then yea you may want to send trace grips and good mags. because ours SUCKED. Canned food was always a hit because MREs wear you down after a bit and pop top chunky soup was mmm mmmm goooodd hahaha. Candy naturally to give to locals, picture albums always helped, letter writing stuff, you can send footlockers full of stuff thats how mine always came.hmm lets see... ahhh a kettle you can plug in and boil water for things like Ramen and cup of soup. any other kinds of food you can heat up like that. Goood flashlights are a MUST!!! quality laser devices also can aid depending on the mission. Socks that are good odor and sweat fighters also are good as the ones we are issued areee awful, ballistic glasses and or goggles... they issued us UVEX..... and they were gone by the third day because i couldnt see crap. recommend sawflys make sure they are on the APEL list (approved Protective Equipment List) Good tactical gloves also we get crappy flight gloves w no protection at all. thats all i can think of right now hope it helps!!!
 
I was over in Iraq in 2004-05, and the most useful thing I EVER used was something that called a Shemagh, its the scarf looking thing that you see all the SF guys wearing aroung their necks. I ordered mine from us cav, but lots of places have them. it wasn't "technically" authorized, but was undeniably useful, especially in convoys, where it is IMPOSSIBLE to breathe if you are the guy in the turret. keeps the dust out of your face. also keeps the sun off your neck. invaluable.
also, a nice blackhawk! brand retention lanyard for my m9. the mil issue one is crap, at best. that retention strap is, in my mind, worth its weight in gold, especially when crawling, jumping, bumping, and getting in and out of a humvee in full gear in a quick hurry to move traffic in baghdad. its just a matter of time before something hits the retention snap on the drop leg holster.
 
Not sure if this helps the thread at all, but my buddy just came back from Afghanistan (Marine), and he had a laptop, cell phone(shitty reception he said), and he even had an Xbox 360 towards the end of his deployment lol

not sure if other branches are more strict though.
 
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