Going downrange in 90 days

[Comcam]

Let him bring all the crap with him and he will have doing a bag drag though Bagram. Just like Killer Bee said have fun with customs, I was flying to another place outside the Stan one time and returning back though the Stan to get to another place outside the Stan, needless to say I still had to go though customs to leave Bagram. The Army guys had fun dragging there bags all over the place.

Lucky for me since I was not rotating home they let me keep my knife!

[thebloodsonthewall]

I got back from overseas not too long ago and I am lower enlisted Army also. I am also commo but I was not a FOBBIT. I did work in the 6 shop for 2 months or so though. You will probably work 12 hour shifts for most of the deployment. That means, you get off, shower, talk to family and go to sleep, wake-up, eat go to work. I moved 5 times in the year I was there. That isn't like take your time we have a moving truck that is the entire platoon has 3 hours to move. The more crap you have the more it sucks for you and your platoon to move. You will get to bring an assault pack with you on the plane. That is where all your electronics should go. You also need your shaving kit and at least 4 days worth of clothing as well as anything else you need. If you put your electronics in a duffel, they will probably get broken. They throw them all on a pallet and ratchet strap the crap out of them.

My advice is take a laptop and an Ipod. I had a kindle shipped out but there was plenty of books available on the FOB. Bring a small external hard drive. Everyone will have movies and tv shows to share. The less crap you have, the less you have to worry about. I can only image how your room inspection would go if you brought all that.

The second room I was in was only big enough for my roommate's and my beds, wall lockers, a small mini fridge and out gear. That was it. Your projector might be small but is it worth losing because you have no use for it and misplaced it?

Oh yeah and when I take personal things places, I consider them broken or lost as soon as I pack it. I can't tell you how many people ended up with broken phones, ipods, laptops, etc.

[Flipper]

Regardless of the size and weight of all this stuff, why do you need all this stuff? Why do you need a projector?!?!

[99sparks]

No it's not a joke and yes really. Good thing it will fit in my bags. Your post is stupid and not helpful.

[themailman]

Im currently deployed. I WISH I could have all of that. I was able to bring one main pack, one seabag or dep. bag, and 2 carry-ons. Im glad I have my Macbook Pro, Harddrive, and Ipod, but all the other amenities are overkill.

[Wickedflava]

bring whatever you feel comfortable with. but word to the wise, your going to be a target for thievery, so make sure you have a good way to secure your trash.

[Stanksbeamen]

MacBook Air
iPad 2
Kindle
iPhone
Projector
Speakers
Zebra pens
KA-BAR
Camera
Camcorder
Solar Charger
Extension cord
Battery power supply
Power strip
Flash drive
Portable hard drive
Mouse
Multimeter
SD card reader
CAC card reader
Headphones
Headphone
cables
Headphone splitter
Kettle
Tea
French press
Coffee
iPod nano
Gorilla pod
World adapter kit
AC/DC inverter
Multi-tool
Alarm clock
Watch
Ham radio
Shortwave radio
Airport express
Proton Photon
Projector screen
100mph tape
Electrical tape
Packing tape
550 cord
Micro pur
Journal
USB hub
USB ethernet
Apple remote
Superdrive
Lens/Screen cleaner
Vitamins
Baseball & Mitt
Fan
Cigarettes
Lighters
Flea collars
Hickory's best jerky
Pictures
GPS
Smart cards
Maps of the area
Protractor
Bungee cords
eBooks
2 dress shirts
Slacks
Jeans
Doc Martins
Hoodie
Blazer
Backpack
Sunglasses
Bug spray
Burt bees

Things in BOLD you may not need or you may be given it either before you leave/once you arrive.

It's a deployment in crappy conditions. Mail takes forever and is unreliable. .

This is your first deployment, how do you know? On my 4 deployments mail usually took anywhere from 4-8 days. It probably will be crappy conditions, make sure you keep good track of your things and dont expose them to the elements.

You're right I don't need anything other than what the Army issues me. It's not a list of things I need. It's a list of things that would make my downtime more enjoyable.

If you're going to have that much down time, what the hell do you do? I've only been on busy *** trips where most of the time I work 2 straight months/12-15 hours a day w/out a day off. Then you add in gym time/work out/run, thats another 1-3 hrs. Next is sleep, wake up/shower/shave and get ready to go back to work.

This is your first deployment, on your next one you will know what you need...

[themailman]

I haven't received any valuable opinions. The only thing i've received is simple statements of "oh that's gonna be heavy" or "whoah dude that's a lotta stuff" no real valuable incites on my list.

Please do feel free to discount the usefulness of any individual items if you can.

There's a **** ton of good advice in here, and your boot-*** scoffs at it because you think you know what goes and what doesnt. Amazing. Listen to what we have to say, most of us have deployed or are deployed as we type.

[ihorn]

From your list this is what I would take. Even being a Navy Vet I know to pack light. I would try to cut down the list I have already cut down for you. A lot of your stuff was very redundant, or just not needed.

MacBook Air
iPad 2, Kindle- Only take one of these for reading your ebooks.
Zebra pens- ?
KA-BAR
Camera
Extension cord- Short maybe 5 foot
Portable hard drive
Headphones
World adapter kit
AC/DC inverter
Multi-tool
Alarm clock
Watch
100mph tape
550 cord- Get a paracord bracelet.
Journal- Keep an ejournal on your computer, not a hard copy.
Lens/Screen cleaner
Vitamins- Only carry a small supply, have more shipped to you later
Cigarettes, Lighters- Only take a 1 or 2 castons, and have some one send you more
Flea collars- Why?
Pictures
Bungee cords
eBooks
Jeans- Take cargo pants they have more pockets to carry stuff.
Doc Martins- Get sturdier boots for hiking you can destroy.
Hoodie
Backpack
Sunglasses
Bug spray
Burt bees

[whatpain]

Once I get everything gathered together I'll post pics. Nobody has discounted even one thing as far as it's benefit while I'm over there. It's a deployment in crappy conditions. Mail takes forever and is unreliable. So why not take the things which will make my downtime enjoyable? I think everyone is getting a skewed idea of the size and weight of everything because it is a long list of tiny things. The largest thing is the pair of civilian shoes i'll need for our two weeks leave, we're suppose to receive, which i'll spend in germany. Like i said when i gather everything together it'll be more apparent for those of you who can't think outside the (sand) box.

Please do feel free to discount the usefulness of any individual items if you can.

ok well how about this do you need an ipad and an i phone and a kindle and a macbook air? couldnt you just bring the kindle and use the macbook air to watch movies etc?

[themailman]

Keeping opsec in mind i'll make a pit stop in kuwait then go where ever. I've been in the reserves for a couple years and this is my first deployment. Keep in mind I'm a web programmer computer geek type. Anyways, like most newbies I'm probably planning on bringing way too much stuff but keeping in mind that I don't want to live a barebones existence for the next 12 months. This is the list of wants and conveniences I've thrown together. Please add to, take away, and criticize the following.

MacBook Air
iPad 2
Kindle
iPhone
ProjectorSpeakers
Zebra pens
KA-BARCamera
Camcorder
Solar ChargerExtension cord
Battery power supplyPower strip
Flash drive
Portable hard drive
Mouse
Multimeter
SD card reader
CAC card reader
Headphones
Headphone cables
Headphone splitter
KettleTeaFrench press
Coffee
iPod nano
Gorilla pod
World adapter kit
AC/DC inverter
Multi-tool
Alarm clock
Watch
Ham radio
Shortwave radio
Airport express
Proton Photon
Projector screen
100mph tape
Electrical tape
Packing tape
550 cord
Micro pur
Journal
USB hub
USB ethernet
Apple remote
Superdrive
Lens/Screen cleaner
Vitamins
Baseball & Mitt
Fan
Cigarettes
Lighters
Flea collars
Hickory's best jerky
Pictures
GPS
Smart cards
Maps of the area
Protractor
Bungee cords
eBooks
2 dress shirts
Slacks
Jeans
Doc Martins
Hoodie
Blazer
BackpackSunglasses
Bug spray
Burt bees

There. If you need the stuff in red, then you arent going "downrange". I cant imagine anyone, from 0-10 down to E-Nothing being allowed to take all of that crap. It blows my mind that your leadership wouldnt have mentored you and given you any guidance on this issue. You really think that you can take a projector, a projector scree, a ham radio, shortwave radio, kettle. I got irritated reading your list, I cant imagine the anger I would have if on the day we were leaving, I saw one of my Marines trying to load 5 or 6 duffle bags onto the semi trailer. Mind blowing. And, you have the arrogance to scoff at our advice. Boot.

[GoatLovin]

I took a laptop and a camera with me. Then I had my family mail me a coffee pot. The 12 months flew.

My unit would laugh their asses off if you came into our GPM with all that ****. I mean look at that list! Doc martins, hoodie... ffs a dress shirt? You're going to a war zone. Even in active duty we don't need to buy our own ****ing tape.