View Full Version : Operation I-Club Care Package is a major success!


Kevin M
11-16-2004, 10:29 PM
As most of you may know, Paul (Oaf) and I wanted to give something back to those who have given so much. We began by donating to www.adoptasniper.org and decided that wasn't enough. Paul contacted me in order to find a personal contact of mine who is currently on deployment. He then explained how he was planning to send a care package as a project for him and his five year old son, Max. After further consideration we decided to make it an I-Club effort for added support (see original thread) (http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73259). As a result, I-Club’s members, along with other outside sources, managed to contribute a whopping $958.00 worth of donations over the last month.

The recipient of the package is a friend of mine from 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) who is currently stationed in Iraq along with the rest of his Military Intelligence and A-Team counterparts. He has disbursed the contents of the package evenly among the lowest ranking privates to the highest ranking team sergeants. Among the items was a special flag given from Paul to his son in celebration of his birthday, June 14, 1999, Flag Day. Before mailing this flag to Charlie in Iraq, it was flown over the Nation's Capitol on June 14th, 2001, and every year since at Paul's residence. This time the flag was raised in Iraq on November 11th, 2004, Veteran's Day. This was a great honor for Paul, a Veteran, and for his young son, Max, who will undoubtedly appreciate and respect this wonderful act.

I also asked Charlie to take some pictures to help represent I-Club and he kindly accepted. He did, however, have difficulty getting a picture without the decal's white backing because of the Command Sergeant Major’s presence. He promised to get some better shots in the future when he wasn't in the motor pool and I’ll be sure to post them.

Finally, Charlie sent a letter on behalf of the Soldiers from 5th SFG (A):

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Paul & the members of I-club:

My name is Charlie {name withheld}. I am a Captain with the 5th Special Forces Group in Iraq, where I command a Detachment. As the beneficiaries of your very generous care package campaign, my Soldiers and I wish to send back a heartfelt “thank you.”

Things are going well for us now. We have air conditioning, running water, and good food. We all live in small trailers now instead of the large tents that we had at the beginning. I have good soldiers working for me and I work for some outstanding leaders. The weather is even starting to cooperate lately; the dust storms aren’t as bad as they used to be and it’s even rained once or twice. Most importantly, we are almost done with our tour in Iraq. Although we know we’ve been doing an important job over here, it will be nice to get back to our families and homes.

Now that the weather is clearing up, I will be able to take some pictures featuring the I-Club stickers you (sent) me, which I will send electronically in case you want to post them on your web site. Thanks again for the packages. Support from home is what keeps Soldiers going.

Sincerely,
(Signed name)

Charles XXXXX

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mission accomplished for I-Club!

I would like to thank everyone that supported the care package idea and especially those that contributed to this cause. You should be proud that you helped support the troops in such hard times. :D

Thanks again,

Eric (Salty) & Paul (Oaf)

zumnwrx
11-16-2004, 10:40 PM
awesome cannt wait to see so more pictures...

edgar, :)

Salty
11-16-2004, 10:44 PM
Here's a photo of soldiers from the 5th SFG (A) raising Paul’s flag.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/nofacesflagraising.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/falgraise2.jpg

Some men from the MI counterpart holding their colors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/nofaces5thmid.jpg

A close-up shot of an Iraqi Mig cockpit and vehicle

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/carepackage2mig.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/carepackage1.jpg

More photos will be posted as I receive them ;)

soggynoodles
11-16-2004, 10:48 PM
sweet! I-club sticker overseas..

Imprezer
11-16-2004, 11:01 PM
Great job guys.

Thank you for setting this up.

Paul@dbtuned
11-17-2004, 06:21 AM
Thanks to Salty for the contact.
Thanks to Imprezer for the stickers.

But the biggest thanks goes to all of i-club members & others that participated. Without your donations, none of this would have been possible.

Paul

Abyss121
11-17-2004, 10:26 AM
Man, you guys rock. I am currently deployed in Kosovo and just bought some parts for my subby and decided to see what you guys were up to and saw this. Care packages rock when your on deployment and nobody deserves them more than the good folks in iraq. This thread has definately made my day. Keep up the good work guys and thanks for looking out for the troops.

SuperHawk
11-18-2004, 12:57 AM
This is awesome!! I am in the Air Force and I know what it means to get something cool like this from the people at home!!!

Super

bigjohnknob
11-19-2004, 09:55 PM
Sweet sounds like we may be in the same place I'm at Balad with the air force working on the flightline as a jet engine mech.

BADWRX
11-21-2004, 03:47 PM
That was a nice thing for you guys to do. I will be over there next year in a chopper. Those guys need our "death from above" when they are in harms way.

Thanks guys for looking out for the ones on the front!

Warrant Officer "BADWRX"
Aviation Branch
United States Army

BrianH
11-24-2004, 05:40 PM
wow, I'm just now seeing this. :(

any plans to do this again?

Salty
11-26-2004, 12:58 PM
wow, I'm just now seeing this. :(

any plans to do this again?


It all depends on I-Club member interest and willingness.

BrianH
11-26-2004, 02:13 PM
I'm in, and I'll be more than happy to spam it.

Salty
12-03-2004, 01:26 PM
I'm in, and I'll be more than happy to spam it.

Great!

I plan on starting another package on Jan. 1st.

See thread: http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81593

BrianH
12-03-2004, 09:43 PM
pimpin, i'll be in on this one and I've started one for some of the midwest crew over on nasioc.

http://forums.NASIOC.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8276214#post8276214

Salty
01-19-2005, 10:26 PM
Few more pictures! :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/9c5ed8bc.bmp

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/humvee2.bmp

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/sierra11b/humvee121.bmp

bpang1
01-21-2005, 07:46 PM
Nice I-Club Hummers!

slvrsti
01-21-2005, 09:17 PM
hey i want to send them some mags.how do i get that done?

Kevin M
01-22-2005, 12:45 AM
hey i want to send them some mags.how do i get that done?

If they're the kind of mags you probably want to send, you can't. Anything they're allowed to have, they can already get. Sorry dude. :(

slvrsti
01-23-2005, 11:17 AM
i was thinking of sending maxium and fhm .nothing to bad.if anybody knows let me know.thanks.

Kevin M
01-23-2005, 01:25 PM
I'm pretty sure soldiers in Muslim countries aren't allowed to have those kind of mags. It's US military policy to always follow the customs and law of any nation we happen to be serving in, so basically you can't send anything a devout Muslim wouldn't have too.

Salty
01-24-2005, 09:00 AM
I'm not too sure about FHM and Maxim. Just ship them an you'll find if they made it I guess.

Magazines get heavy very fast so you may want to put a few select ones at the bottom of a box and fill the rest with Oreos and Copenhagen. The essentials... ;)

Put it this way... If their commanders wanted them to have magazines like this then they'll have a loophole to get them for their troops. Trust me. Otherwise just send other stuff as magazines will get old quick.