U.S. Military Active Service PIF -- A Veteran's Day "Thank You".

[Shamejedi]

Technically, I'm an hour and a half past Veteran's Day, but it was that kind of day. (Hey, I guess it's still Veteran's Day in Colorado and further west.)

As a small display of gratitude for the brave men and women who keep my family safe and my nation secure, I'd like to offer a PIF for active duty personnel stationed in the Greater Middle East or on the Korean Peninsula. If you're Navy or Air Force, let's call it "within easy cruising" of one of those locations.

If you win, you get option A or B:

OPTION A
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1) You'll pick a vendor: Al's Shaving or Queen Charlotte Soaps. I'll send you a sample pack of creams from that vendor, your choice of scents, or one tub of a particular cream if you already have one you'd prefer (Disclosure: I've never gotten a freebie from Al's or QCS, I just like their stuff and am happy to support small businesses. They have no notice that I'm offering this PIF.)
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2) A bottle of either Pre-Shave Oil or ASB from Al's if you've gone for that site or a "5 for $20" pack of soaps from QCS if you've gone with them. Again, scents your choice.
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3) 25 DE blades from my collection. I'll let you know what I've got when you win.
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OPTION B
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If you'd rather, I'd be happy to send your child or other loved one an age-appropriate holiday gift of similar value to what I've listed above on your behalf along with a note thanking them for supporting you while you do such an important job. I'm a registered public employee who has gone through a background check and fingerprinting, and will happily share my personal details with you directly so you can be sure that I'm dealing square and level. I'll submit the text of my note to you for prior approval.
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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE:
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Whichever option you choose above, my students and I will also adopt your squad for the holidays. You'll let me know what little comforts of home your squad misses the most and we'll send a care package. We'll also send hand-written cards and maybe some recorded greetings if our TV production kids can swing it.
(My students are mostly from low-income homes, so please don't ask for truffles and caviar .)
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If you've got the B&B Active Duty Badge, please enter the PIF by posting your branch of the military, country where you are currently stationed, and how many times you've been deployed, if relevant. I'll give you a bonus entry for every deployment. If you're a Marine, you get another bonus entry in honor of my father, because he was in the Corps and it's his birthday.

I'll assign every entry a number, with the winner chosen via the free widget at random.org. (Disclosure: the creator of random.org and I went to grad school together--but we fell out of contact years ago. I didn't even know the site is his until about 5 minutes ago.)

I'll close off entries at noon Eastern on 11/26 so I have enough time to round up the stuff and get it mailed in time to reach you before the end of the holiday season.

Thank you for your service!

(PM me if I've seriously messed something up in the offering--it's a late night at the end of one bear of a week.)

[TheVez2]

Awesome! Thanks very much for this PIF. It may be super late where you are, but it is mid day here!

Count me in!
B&B Active Duty Badge: Check
Branch of Military: Air Force
Country currently stationed: Afghanistan
Number of times deployed: This is my second tour

Thanks for your support!

[TankCommander1554]

Yes indeed - mid day here in the other far off land too. Thanks for a great PIF!

Active Duty Badge - Check
Branch: Army
Country stationed in: Iraq
# of Deployments: First Time

Thanks for your support brother!

[FonGu]

Thank you for honoring my brothers - well done!

[Lando]

Good stuff!

Service Branch: Army
Deployed to: Iraq
Deployments: my first

PIF is much appreciated.

[Mark1966]

Well done - great PIF

[sifu]

This is a wonderful PIF!

[mftoms59]

Thanks for Remembering Our Men in Uniform, I Applaud You and your students

[Sledgehammer39]

An excellent PIF!

[dpmtherrien]

Very nice for our troops. You're to be commended.

[Shamejedi]

Thanks for the postive responses, gentlemen. I'm happy to be able to do something for those who do so much for us, and at the same time to help my students think about the sacrifices others make for our well being every day. They're in 10th grade, which tends to be a fairly self-centered age group. It's win-win.

I know we've got a lot more than three Active Duty B&B'ers out there, but I also have learned today that stuff gets buried fast in the general forum. I've asked the mods to make this one a sticky for a while.

[Jim]

Well done Rich!

[morcoffee]

Thank you Sir for an outstanding PIF. And thank you for what you do!

I am currently stationed in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps and this will be my second tour.
I'll see if I can get working on your lack of entries.

[obaid]

very nice and thoughtful gesture Shamejedi

[useaglemaa]

nice awesome PIF...thank you

[StripeyType]

Outstanding! Thanks so much.

Count me in!
B&B Active Duty Badge: Check
Branch of Military: United States Marine Corps
Country currently stationed: Afghanistan - Camp Dwyer (Southern Helmand Province)
Number of times deployed: Third deployment. Before this it was the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and before that it was Kosovo in 2001.

Edited to add: morcoffee pointed me over here - I hadn't even seen it! I'm trying to get my Company Gunny in on the fun, too.

[useaglemaa]

i forgot to post it
waiting for my active duty badge. I am a marine in Afghanistan this is my first deployment.

[Shamejedi]

Excellent! Thanks for joining the PIF, gentlemen, and thanks for your service!

@useaglemaa: at the time of this post, I can see your Active Duty badge.

[FlyMarines21]

B&B Active Duty Badge: Check
Branch of Military: Marine Corps
Country currently stationed: Afghanistan
Number of times deployed: This is my second deployment

[discodave]

This is a great thread ... got my start out from a PIF a years ago after catching the bug while deployed a while back. And for what it is worth, what you and your class are doing is great. I don't need anything, but felt inclined to post :)

B&B Active Duty Badge: No, not even sure what that is.
Branch of Military: Air Force
Country Currently Stationed: Undisclosed Location in Middle East
Number of times deployed: Four