What To Send in a Care Package to a Soldier in Iraq?

Question

I recently signed up to send letters and care packages to a female soldier stationed in Iraq. I don't know anything about her and I am wondering what would be some good things to send. Thanks!

Answer 1

Everyone above is right on.. my two cents..

New magazines are always great to pass the time.

Don't spend money on DVDs. Chances are you're sending $100 worth of DVDs that shes already seen bootleg copies of.

Don't go overboard on hygeine stuff. There's plenty over there already.

A barber brush and compressed aircans from Staples are great for maintenance on weapons, laptops, and military radios. She can also use pipe cleaners and dental picks for the hard to reach areas on her weapon.

You can send her a cheap memory stick (>$30) with files like pictures, news clippings, books on .PDF format, cheap games, etc..

If she stays in the FOB and doesn't have to worry about leaving outside the wire in a hurry, she might be able to use sleeping pills. They are great when you want to sleep but can't because it is too noisy. Iraq is a noisy place inside the FOBS you have huge generators, there are always people moving around you inside the tent, TVs on...etc.

A deck of cards or a chess/checker board is always a winner.

Instead of candy, which there is plenty of already, send her some good quality coffee grounds. Army coffee is okay, but I loved brewing my Maxwell house in the morning. And there is nothing like coming back from a mission and hitting the "start" button and smelling that coffee going in the dead of winter.

If you are going to send foodstuffs, get some local bottled sauces.

Bottom line is she is going to be grateful for whatever you send her, and whatever she doesn't want will end up in the hands of fifteen other joes around her. Thanks for your support!

Answer 2

My club has been sending care pkgs for a couple of years, and the most requested items are reading materials like paperbacks or magazines, drink mixes including cocoa or koolaid, and anything that will help with comfort: moisturizing soap, lip balm, lotion. They also like any nonmelting candy or snacks and stationary or cards they can use to send notes home. Try to get people, especially kids, to write supportive notes that you can include in the package.

Answer 3

You can never go wrong with coffee, candy, recent magazines, CD's, etc. We ran 24 hour ops in my job and we were always running out of coffee!! Drink mixes are easy to get over their since they come in all MRE's. Chances are she can get anything you can send her since most bases now have shops and stuff for soldiers to buy stuff. If she is a smoker certain cigarrettes can be hard to come by over there so look into that.

Answer 4

lotion and moisturizer. chapstick is good too! my boyfriend is over there and those are the things he asks for the most!! hard candies are nice also.Nothing chocolate.. it will melt.... tooth paste, deodorant, femine products prolly for a girl. those individual juice drink things you can put in bottles of water are always a hit too. magazines are always nice too!! BATTERIES (Ds and AAs mostly), kleenex, chewing gum, foot powder, bobby pins, socks, word games like crosswords, baby wipes probably unscented, Dont send anything scented actaully!! it attracts bugs!!
Stamps are unnecessary because in Iraq the soldiers get their mail sent free...

Thanks so much for all the support!! I know that these packages mean a lot to the men and women over there!! It was really nice of you to do that!!

Answer 5

I have been to Iraq 6 times and I can tell you the thing I went thru the most was lotion, toothpaste, deodorant,.The things that I loved having were like hard candies, beef jerkey etc. Anything that you can get stuffed in a ruck...Perfect! Most of these items that are sent are put out in a grab & go box and they go quickly. I now run a troop support site www.sosfamilygateway.com. If you need assistance please let me know.

Answer 6

im a soldier in iraq. anyhow it all depends on if she needs anything. they have bx's and little shoppette's on base. im a low life base and we have both. so i wouldnt need cleaning supplies what not (like shampoo, deodorant, etc) send a card, perhaps a 10 dollar bill so she can grab something to eat at a burger king or a pizza hut on base (yes there are resturants on base in iraq). if you know the girl send her something that she likes, movies work good. thats about all i ever do and think about women, lol. u could just send me something instead and forget about her, lol.

Answer 7

Silly String !!! Of all things that our soldiers want is Silly String. It can be used by them to find the nearly invisible lines which set IEDs off. Take a piece or string and tie it between two chairs. Make it a piece of thin gaugefishing line. See how difficult it is to see it? Now spray some Silly String over it and see how much easier it is to see the line. This will save lives.

Answer 8

There is a wonderful website that I belong to called Militarymoms.net that has an entire page devoted to care packages for our soldiers. Check them out and see if there is any suggestions that haven't been covered here. God bless you for remembering our brave soldiers.

Lisa
Mom to Pvt Luostari

Answer 9

the female soldier would love to get personal item.also some magzagine send them some stamp and writing material.send her some friut,cookies they love those thing also you can send her a little held game with some batteries.because they are not alway fighting and that gives them some time to get there mind of of the war.

Answer 10

you can send her anything. Here is a few items we send to our soldiers.
lotions, sunscreen, bug spray, baby wipes, lip stuff, make-up with moisturizer in it, nail polish, magazines and books, hard candy, and anything you can think of. just remember nothing that melts and no alochol. If you send anything liquid put it in zip lock bags so it want run out on everything if it leaks