Posted on Apr 21, 2023
What would you recommend or suggest a Soldier bring on a deployment that you wish someone told you to bring?
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Think back to your first deployment. What would have made your deployment a bit smoother to get through if someone had told you to bring X to make life easier?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 15
A 4TB SSD loaded with games, movies, and TV shows as well as a tablet or kindle like device stored with ebooks and audio books. You don't think about having no internet until there is no or super crappy internet. So many people were like no it's ok I have [insert streaming service], yeah there's no cell service guy.
Then while you're there let people copy your SSD and you copy theirs, share the wealth of entertainment with as many people as you can.
I did and we had regular movie nights or binged certain shows, there's going to be down time and yeah you can fill it with PT, or the smoke pit, and near beer, but simple things like chilling with the squad and watching a movie with snacks from the Chaplain are good times too. Anything that gets your head off the BS for a couple hours is gold.
Then while you're there let people copy your SSD and you copy theirs, share the wealth of entertainment with as many people as you can.
I did and we had regular movie nights or binged certain shows, there's going to be down time and yeah you can fill it with PT, or the smoke pit, and near beer, but simple things like chilling with the squad and watching a movie with snacks from the Chaplain are good times too. Anything that gets your head off the BS for a couple hours is gold.
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Baby wipes! They can be used for so many things, getting sand out of your eyes, cleaning minor scraps and cooling your forehead on hot days
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Depending how austere it is, some sort of mat in the tent you can stand on barefoot or in socks. And something dry to sit on
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SPC James Neidig
I always carried a 2 ft by 4 ft carpet runner rolled up in my sleeping pad, it’s a great feeling to put your feet on a soft carpet when you get out of bed
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1LT Voyle Smith
Tabasco sauce will dress up MREs & C Rats. And for roadkill, shake some Lea & Perrin’s Worchester Sauce over it to mask the funky smell & taste. For my year in ‘Nam, I asked my parents to send me a case of Tobasco Sauce each month. That way, I could supply the entire platoon with the stuff.
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I would agree with LTC Chu. The need for entertainment was definitely an issue during the Covid crisis for our deployment. Everything that was not essential was closed.
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Bring a diary and document your days while deployed, identify those days that went well and those that didn’t.
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