The Afghan Campaign

[Delta Romeo]

All,

I just had a very cool experience with a Lt. Colonel stepping up to help me out in a big way over at ISAF. He took charge and handled some admin work way below his pay grade to make my life far easier. I know when I was getting ready to come over here, I had a few separate people ask me for contact info to help the troops out and I think I found a great candidate.

For anyone who has been there, you know that guys based there are not living tough, they aren't sleeping in the mud and they aren't getting blown up on a frequent basis. However, they are away from home, miss momma, and have long periods of boredom with intermittent chaos. This base is also a fairly large transit point for our guys going out to do the real work outside the wire... When I mentioned this board and the desire several of the BOTL members to help out, his eyes lit up and he said that they (he and his boss) have been trying to get a monthly cigar night arranged for the troops for several weeks, but haven't been able to get it off the ground yet...

I'm not sure how to arrange something big for these guys, but as a civilian contractor, I'm often pushed aside and sent to the back of the line. The LTC stepped up when it counted, saved me a few days of aggravation and unnecessary trips outside the wire (I don't live on the base), and that inspired this.

So, as I see it, I can post his APO for everyone to deal with individually (I told him the only cost would be photos of the first HERF sent to the person who sent the package for posting here), or if you want to use me to coordinate a delivery, I can arrange that too. Since we share the same APO, this should be something I can coordinate fairly easily from on the ground.

I'm open to any thoughts on execution.

DR

 

[TonyRome]

Either way I have your addy already. If you want me to send directly to him just let me know. I wanna put something together to send out in the next week or two

 

[mdwest]

Ill pitch in a 5'ver for the good LTC... (already have your APO.. busy with work today and the HERF tomorrow.. but will get them boxed up and mailed out no later than Monday..)....



oh... do you know if they have any reasonable storage?

I cant remember if the little Brit PX on ISAF that carried the CC's had any humidors available or not..

If nothing else, maybe they could pick up a small cooler (assuming the LTC hasnt thought "cigar night" all the way through yet.. and has no way to keep a bunch of sticks "fresh" for a month in the 20 RH Afghan summer...

Ill throw in a couple of large bovedas as well.. hopefully that will help a little...

 

[zama80]

I'm in for some sticks. Need an addy and the timeline.

 

[Stillinger]

I've said for a bit that we should do a troops drive. All this bombing to cool brothers here is well and good, but there are plenty of people fighting for us who could use some of the similar generosity.

 

[mwlabel]

I'm for sure in. Need an addy, timeline, and if somebody knows what they actually need and/or want... let me know.


Also, quality vs. quantity? Is a package with 3 bundles of cigars going to be better or worse than a 10 pack of premium smokes? I'll probably send both, but a little insight will steer which I send more of.

 

[Smoqman]

^ "Cigars For Warriors" is a great cause:

http://cigarsforwarriors.org

 

[Wicket]

Let's do this. I need someone's address so I can send sticks.

 

[Smoqman]

All,

I just had a very cool experience with a Lt. Colonel stepping up to help me out in a big way over at ISAF. He took charge and handled some admin work way below his pay grade to make my life far easier. I know when I was getting ready to come over here, I had a few separate people ask me for contact info to help the troops out and I think I found a great candidate.

For anyone who has been there, you know that guys based there are not living tough, they aren't sleeping in the mud and they aren't getting blown up on a frequent basis. However, they are away from home, miss momma, and have long periods of boredom with intermittent chaos. This base is also a fairly large transit point for our guys going out to do the real work outside the wire... When I mentioned this board and the desire several of the BOTL members to help out, his eyes lit up and he said that they (he and his boss) have been trying to get a monthly cigar night arranged for the troops for several weeks, but haven't been able to get it off the ground yet...

I'm not sure how to arrange something big for these guys, but as a civilian contractor, I'm often pushed aside and sent to the back of the line. The LTC stepped up when it counted, saved me a few days of aggravation and unnecessary trips outside the wire (I don't live on the base), and that inspired this.

So, as I see it, I can post his APO for everyone to deal with individually (I told him the only cost would be photos of the first HERF sent to the person who sent the package for posting here), or if you want to use me to coordinate a delivery, I can arrange that too. Since we share the same APO, this should be something I can coordinate fairly easily from on the ground.

I'm open to any thoughts on execution.

DR

Excellent - always wanting to help these guys out.

 

[mdwest]

I'm for sure in. Need an addy, timeline, and if somebody knows what they actually need and/or want... let me know.


Also, quality vs. quantity? Is a package with 3 bundles of cigars going to be better or worse than a 10 pack of premium smokes? I'll probably send both, but a little insight will steer which I send more of.

My experience is quantity over quality...

Not that they need/want dog rockets...

But most of the guys I used to sit with on Cigar Club nights in Iraq back in the day werent what I'd define as "real" smokers.. most didnt know the difference between a bundle perdomo and an aged padron... they were just looking for an opportunity to relax, socialize, and burn off a little steam that had gotten built up over the previous week... for the most part they were smoking what they could find in country (fake cc's most of the time) or whatever they had received in care packages from home).... there were a few guys that were really into the hobby, that knew and understood what they were smoking, could appreciate the difference between a $20 HTF LE stick and a $3 CI Special... but they are the exception, not the rule.... most are just trying to have a little fun in an otherwise shitty place.. and take it easy for a few hours.. and truly appreciate anything sent from home... theyre generally not too picky..

 

[ENV]

I love all of the things we are doing for the troops here. Between my box pass, grrrrrs contest and this I say we are doing awesome

 

[mwlabel]

I'm for sure in. Need an addy, timeline, and if somebody knows what they actually need and/or want... let me know.


Also, quality vs. quantity? Is a package with 3 bundles of cigars going to be better or worse than a 10 pack of premium smokes? I'll probably send both, but a little insight will steer which I send more of.

My experience is quantity over quality...

Not that they need/want dog rockets...

But most of the guys I used to sit with on Cigar Club nights in Iraq back in the day werent what I'd define as "real" smokers.. most didnt know the difference between a bundle perdomo and an aged padron... they were just looking for an opportunity to relax, socialize, and burn off a little steam that had gotten built up over the previous week... for the most part they were smoking what they could find in country (fake cc's most of the time) or whatever they had received in care packages from home).... there were a few guys that were really into the hobby, that knew and understood what they were smoking, could appreciate the difference between a $20 HTF LE stick and a $3 CI Special... but they are the exception, not the rule.... most are just trying to have a little fun in an otherwise shitty place.. and take it easy for a few hours.. and truly appreciate anything sent from home... theyre generally not too picky..

I knew you'd be the man with the answers. Thanks, Dave.

 

[cgraunke]

I love all of the things we are doing for the troops here. Between my box pass, grrrrrs contest and this I say we are doing awesome

Maybe this is something that could be incorporated with Eddy's drive?
Better to send one nice sized box over than two dozen fivers... Just one man's opinion.
Could even load up a nice sized Tupper filled with sticks and a boveda and give the LtC a one stop solution.

 

[cgraunke]

I planned on adding a big tuppetware to my shipment to ENV, but the store I bought mine at was sold out... 😠

 

[blessednxs65]

Who do I need to send sticks to and when?

 

[Delta Romeo]

Here's the guys contact info:

Jeffery Fritz
US-NSE / KAIA
APO AE 09320

I'd suggest you print out the start of this thread so he knows where your good will originated from. It could help grow the board and get some cool pics for everyone as well.

As a reminder to those who know, and a warning to those who don't, GO#1 is still in effect. That means no porn and no booze in anything you ship to an APO... It's also why cigars are so often appreciated. I'd hate to see a good deed go bad.

Thanks,

DR

 

[Avvatar]

Never have maxim magazines been so appreciated. By month 6, you're like an eleven year old boy looking at the JC Penney catalog. Shudder. Time to feed the tree of liberty with tobacco!

 

[plumber1965]

I love all of the things we are doing for the troops here. Between my box pass, grrrrrs contest and this I say we are doing awesome

Maybe this is something that could be incorporated with Eddy's drive?
Better to send one nice sized box over than two dozen fivers... Just one man's opinion.
Could even load up a nice sized Tupper filled with sticks and a boveda and give the LtC a one stop solution.

I really like this idea. I could help out in a couple weeks if you can wait that long. if so PM me and i will send some sticks your way.

 

[mwlabel]

Would one large (or a few large) package(s) be preferable over a dozen small boxes?