What you need to know
Deployment to a new location, especially a foreign country, is always a very busy, and sometimes exciting time.
Soldiers often don't get a chance to get in touch with their loved ones right away once they arrive "in theater", and as a result, their loved ones worry. Add to that the fact that mail takes several days, often even more than a week, and your family is back home in the states expecting the worst.
This is why it is so important that you stay in touch with your family while you are deployed and take the first chance you get to either drop them a line via snail mail, email, or give them a call to let them know you've made it there alright and they don't need to worry. Unfortunately, you won't be able to hook up your own laptop in all locations, or there might be long lines for you to wait your turn to check your email.
Before you leave, please make sure that your loved ones back home understand
you may not have a chance to go to the nearest phone and give them a call as
soon as you get there, and that you may not be able to receive emails right
away, either. Let them know that, once you arrive, you will let them know as
soon as you can, how they can reach you and stay in touch with you. If your
family knows what's going on, they are less likely to worry.
> Letters
> Packages
> Email & Instant
Messaging
> Phone Calls
The best way for you to stay in touch with your loved ones are old fashioned snail mail letters. Sending letters from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, or anywhere else in the Middle East is free for soldiers. All you need to do is address your letter, add your return address in the corner, and write "FREE" in the corner where you usually put your stamps.
Make sure you bring envelopes and stationery with you, just in case you won't be able to purchase more right away where you're stationed. Locations with a small PX trailer, for example, may have trouble keeping stationery in stock due to the demand.
Sending packages home is a slightly different matter than sending letters.
First, you will need to find out what kinds of items you are allowed to ship home. Are you allowed to ship "souvenirs"? What types of souvenirs are you allowed to send? How big and how heavy are your packages allowed to be?
Your unit or your local APO should be able to give you precise information on the types of items you are allowed to ship back home, as well as to the size and weight of boxes you may send. You will need to pay a shipping fee to mail boxes.
The majority of locations in Iraq and Afghanistan have Internet access. In most camps, aside from work computers, there are "Internet Cafe" tents or buildings. Depending on the number of people in your camp, you will have to wait in line to be able to use a computer, and computer time is generally limited to about thirty minutes. In some camps you will also be able to access the Internet using your own laptop. Again, this varies in locations, and this information should be regarded only as a general guideline.
On an Internet Cafe computer you will be able to access third-party email providers such as Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, which are generally being blocked from work computers on most military installations now. However, your best bet is always to stay in touch with your loved ones using your AKO email account through the website at www.us.army.mil. You will also be able to use AKO instant messenger to have real-time conversations with your loved ones, provided they have an AKO account as well.
As a soldier, you have full access to AKO, and through AKO also to a number of other army websites. You can also get a "guest" account for your spouse, children, or family members, which they can use to stay in touch with you via email and AKO instant messenger while you are deployed. You can set up a guest account for them at any time, and you may want to consider doing so before deployment. In the many locations, AKO instant messenger is the only instant messaging option you have.
There are a number of ways for soldiers to make phone calls home to their loved ones. The majority of locations provide pay phones where you can use phone cards to make calls home. There are a number of different phone cards that work well - AAFES claims that they have the best rates for international calls, although most soldiers report that this isn't even close to the truth.
Alternatively, you can purchase an international cell phone while you are in Kuwait. Those cost around $150 and you need to purchase phone cards to add minutes, but a lot of soldiers are using them to make calls back home. Unfortunately, these can not be brought back to the States because they will not work here - but you can always sell yours to another soldier when you leave.
Some units also have satellite phones available for soldiers to make morale calls to their loved ones back home.