Vet News: Remember U.S. Troops Overseas as Holidays and Mailing Deadline Approach

According to guidelines issued by the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA), Americans who want to send support to troops spending the holidays in Operations Iraqi or Enduring Freedom are running out of time.

Besides deadlines, there are many regulations and guidelines on what can or cannot be sent to troops in the contingency theater. Each country has customs regulations that apply to all mail coming into that country. These may include prohibitions on certain kinds of food or entertainment products. Also, some military units may have additional restrictions imposed by the theater commander, such as size and weight restrictions, to ensure logistics support can handle the mail without delays. What is or is not "allowed," is such a confounding issue that the USDA even publishes guidance that focuses exclusively on food items.

Size can also be a costly concern as Military Postal rates are based on the weight of the addressed piece. "Depending on how many sports drinks, magazines, phone cards and tooth brushes are thrown in, you could pay anywhere from $7.70 up to $129.95 for shipping alone," said the Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s (AAFES’) Chief of Corporate Communications Lt. Col. Debra Pressley.

In addition to logistical and financial challenges, current Department of Defense (DoD) regulations make it difficult for Americans who don’t know a particular service member’s name and address to contribute to deployed troops’ morale. As the MPSA’s website advises, "The general public can’t send care packages to deployed service members as they did during past conflicts. Families and friends may still send packages to service members if they have a name and address... MPSA can’t provide names and addresses of service members."

While AAFES also cannot divulge personal information, it has set up two DoD-recognized support efforts to facilitate and streamline support from the American public to troops fighting overseas.

AAFES phone card campaign, dubbed "Help Our Troops Call Home," is an affordable way to connect service members on the front lines with family back home. Military Exchange Global Prepaid Phone cards ranging in price can be sent to an individual service member (designated by the purchaser) or distributed to "any service member" through the American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society, Fisher House or USO.

"Shipping charges for one of these phone cards, regardless of denomination, is only .37 cents," said Lt. Col. Pressley. "Once the Military Exchange Global Prepaid Phone card is delivered, it offers the best value when calling from any of 69 phone centers in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Other than the cost of the stamp, ‘Help Our Troops Call Home’ maximizes nearly every cent of support received with phone cards that can provide more than two hours of talk time."

Troops relish the phone cards that consistently rank in the top ten items purchased in contingency exchange (PX/BX) operations. As one former service member wrote in a Sept. 24 Internet posting, "As an old troop, I can tell you all that the best gift you can give is the calling card," wrote the blogger. "Nothing is better than hearing a voice from a loved one. Anything is welcome, of course, but this is the one thing you can give that will allow them to have a sense of home."

Lightweight and flexible, AAFES "Gifts from the Homefront" are another affordable troop support option that lets the receiver choose what "care package" items they prefer. Started in March 2003, this gift certificate effort makes it easy for troops to pick up items normally included in a "traditional" care package at more than 55 exchange facilities in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

Reports from Iraq indicate "Gifts from the Homefront" gift certificates are being redeemed for soft drinks, snacks and the latest movies and music. Because, all of these items have already been shipped to field PXs in Iraq and are available at stateside prices, gift certificates addressed to "any service member" are subject a flat shipping charge of only $4.95 for orders of $5 to $5,000.

"For only $4.95 shipping anyone could send up to $5,000 worth of ‘Gifts from the Homefront,’" said Pressley. "At 78 cents a bottle, that would be the equivalent of 6,410 20 oz. bottles of Gatorade."

Any American can log on to http://www.aafes.com or call 877-770-4438 to show their support for America’s deployed troops through "Gifts from the Homefront." "Help Our Troops Call Home" phone cards are also available at http://www.aafes.org/ or 800-527-2345. From there, gift certificates and phone cards can be sent to individual service members (designated by the purchaser) or distributed to "any service member" through the American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society, Fisher House or USO.

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is a joint command of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and is directed by a Board of Directors who is responsible to the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force through the Service Chiefs of Staff. AAFES has the dual mission of providing authorized patrons with articles of merchandise and services and of generating non- appropriated fund earnings as a supplemental source of funding for military Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs. To find out more about AAFES’ history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our Web site at http://www.aafes.com/pa/default.asp.

SOURCE: PRNewswire