What NOT to send

As I was cleaning the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) yesterday, I sorted through several boxes trying to organize the contents of care packages we have received. I realized that many people and organizations send necessities when they aren't sure what we needed. As the war has gone on, more and more things are available to soldiers on the frontlines now that weren't available when we started.

"We are quite possibly the cleanest soldiers to ever fight in combat!"

Many people have asked me lately what I need or want, what we need. I discussed it with others as we sorted though the plethora of goodies. The holidays are coming up and many people and groups are gearing up to send us care packages to show their support. We GREATLY appreciate the support of those back home and would never discourage that! We did however, come up with an urgent list of items we DO NOT need.

1. Hand Sanitizer - We have enough hand sanitizer to cleanse every soldier and half the Hadji population in southern Iraq. It's not that we don't use the stuff, we do, but almost every care package sent has included several bottles of the stuff.

2. Baby Wipes - Tons of baby wipes! There was a time when these little wipes were as valued as gold, but the modern bases have many showers and we have enough time to go take a nice shower in a stall with running water and everything. Though we do have outages now and then and John has showered on his porch with bottles of water, that is not the common. We are really "wiped out!"

3. Hard Candy - Somewhere out there is a list of items that modern soldiers just can't live without. Someone added candy to the list and as a result, we have roughly 150 pounds of the stuff in boxes and piles and getting more every day. Many bags have had to be discarded as there is simply no place to get rid of the stuff. We are fat, happy and have enough cavities, but thank you.

4. Toiletries - Though this is and always will be very valuable, we are stocked full of razors, soaps, toothbrushes and pastes. We are quite possibly the cleanest soldiers to ever fight in combat! I admit, some are not, but it is NOT because we don't have the resources.

5. Chap stick - Though it is always great to have lips that glitter and smell like Cherry Tarts while you are spot correcting one of your soldiers, we are stock full of this stuff. I admit we don't use it near enough and there are thousands of soldiers running around fighting bad guys with chapped lips. Fortunately, the sun is not as hot these days and we could survive with less than 22.5 sticks per soldier.

6. Sun Block - Sun Block is awesome, especially the waterproof, bulletproof kind. However, like anything else, in excess it is well... excess.  I recently conducted an experiment and found that one 1.8 gallon tube of 80 SPF Sun Block lotion will "liberally cover" 76,834 square inches of human flesh! Since we must remain fully clothed (with gloves on) while we fight bad guys, only about 4 square inches of skin is exposed while we are out on missions. So, we have enough Sun Block to keep our cheeks sunburn free for the next 3,756 years. I believe we may still have troops here.

7. White Socks - Why do we need 13 cases of white tube socks in Iraq? I'm not sure. We are not allowed to wear civilian clothes in the war zone. We only wear white socks in our physical training uniforms and we can only wear that uniform when we are exercising. Two or three pairs of white socks is good for a couple months. Don't get me wrong, they ARE comfortable, but we just can't use that many.

8. Civilian Clothes - Again, just absolutely no need for civilian clothes in combat as they are completely prohibited. We CAN wear them in our room technically, but must change into our uniform to walk to the bathroom or go take a shower. I do have an Austin Texas Fire Fighters t-shirt I wear in my room on occasion, but those are rare occasions.

While some of these items are useful and appreciated, we end up getting so many at once, that we run out of places to store them. Thank you for all the support, we REALLY do appreciate it.

If you have specific soldiers who have asked for these items, then of course they need them. I am mainly posting this for the benefit of the individuals that want to send care packages because we have so many large groups that send these items.

Magazines and local newspapers are always a big hit. Every time we get a new edition of "The Spectator" it is always nice. We read through and laugh at our friends who got arrested or had babies and scan through to see who won the "Bull Drop!"

From those of us on the frontlines, thank you. Thank you for all your support and kind words, they will never go unnoticed.