From time to time, people send phone cards downrange. These are very helpfull at times of going through Kuwait for R&R and redeployment. Sometimes they are helpful in some of the outlying areas who only have pay phone trailers.
A word of warning, however, about phone cards. I have found that the phone cards sent over to Soldiers downrange must be AT&T. This is because AT&T are the only pay phnes here, to my knowledge. I recieve SPRINT cards and other cost saving cards that can not be used because AT&T will not accept them–and will get really nasty if you ask them to, by the way.
Luckily, I am based out of Germany so I can take them back with me for Soldiers to use there for emergencies. So they have not gone to waste. But, if you are sending phone cards to Soldiers, unfortunately the only card available to send is the AT&T.
Another consideration for these cards is the amount. Typically, I am not one to push for more–but in this case it is a must. International rates apply to the AT&T phones–which makes a 300 minute card about a 60 minute one. (I’m not exact on this, but pretty close.) The card get chewed up pretty quickly.
The best bet for Soldiers is the SPAWAR (MWR) phones that are at nearly every large FOB and are about 5 cents a minute to the States and Germany. I guess AT&T hasn’t figured out how to make their phone rates cheeper.Â
So, if you want to send phone cards, send AT&T, so they can be used downrange.