Marine “Must-Haves” List- Something to remember when I’m sending “our” unit in Afghanistan stuff.

Here are some items (at least the ones not issued by the military that can be given as gifts) that made the list of the 3rd Platoon’s “Must Haves” List:

Energy bars: “They’re lightweight, easy to get to,” said Staff Sgt. Luis Lopez, 3rd platoon sergeant. “Plus they?re not as bulky as MREs.” (meals-ready-to-eat)

Extra socks: “My feet are nice and dry right now,” said Lance Cpl. Kaleb Welch, a squad automatic weapon (SAW) gunner. “I’ve gone without changing my socks before on three to four day training exercises and I always regretted it later.”

Baby wipes: “It’s a multi-use piece of gear,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Irving Ochoa, a Navy Corpsman. You don?t have much time out here for personal hygiene, so it’s the best alternative.”

Watch with compass: “You get calls where you have to lay down suppressing fire in a certain direction and instead of wasting time to ask which way is north or south, you can just look at your wrist,” said Lance Cpl. Lonny Kelly, a machine gunner. “Knowing the time is important because everyone pulls shifts for guard duty or standing post. How would you know when your shift starts or stops without one?”

AA batteries: “You use them for your NVGs and handheld radios; both which contribute to more effective fighting,” said Cpl. Bryan Morales, 1st squad 1st fire team, team leader. “You wouldn’t want either of those items dying on you, so having a spare set of batteries around is very important.”

High powered flashlight: “It does wonders,” said Cpl. Chris Williams, 2nd squad 1st fire team leader. “After you throw a fragmentation grenade into a room it’s difficult to see because of all the dust floating around. No one can hide from them.”

stolen entirely from The Patriette