Why do soldiers need phone cards?

[tarmand]

Are there pay phones or something that they have to use? I don't know anyone in the military but I assumed they weren't able to make phone calls since I have heard people say that they only hear from their loved ones every couple of weeks.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would guess the phones they do get to use are not free.

 

[MrsKreamer]

Yeah, I think they are satelite phones....

 

[tarmand]

You can use phone cards with satellite phones? I thought those were like cell phones with a certain number of minutes for a certain dollar amount.

 

[va32h]

Sometimes when we think of soliders at war, we are envisioning tents, or a scene from MASH. It's not all like that.

Depending on where the solider is, there may be a fairly well developed base, with a PX, fast food places, internet cafe, and pay phones.

Qatar, for example, has a permanent installation - my husband says it's practically a resort compared to lving "in the field".

Kuwait also has camps that have permanent buildings, PX's, and so forth. Camp Arifjan even had an ice cream shop for part of the year.

Even in Iraq, my husband has been stationed in places that have permanent buildings and pay phones.

My husband was able to call me about once a month. The hardest part was having enough free time to wait in line for several hours to be able to use the phone.

BTW, cards have to be AT&T - they have the monoply on the pay phones.

 

[Auggietina]

Soldiers have to use calling cards to call home.

Depending where they are - they have to buy calling cards there to use the phones, sometimes AT&T doesn't work there.

Here is a picture of an internet cafe: (they have to pay per hour to use)

 

[jsmith]

Kuwait also has camps that have permanent buildings, PX's, and so forth. Camp Arifjan even had an ice cream shop for part of the year.


LOL-Camp arifjan is becoming one of the fastest grown and most sophisticated bases the military has-and they have ice cream-and starbuck, and nathans hot dogs all year round

The need for phone cards-in most of the camps-even the ones out in the worst places have phone centers-much like sues internet cafe-phones are mostly provided by A T and T although there are some other vendors-they a generally salalite phones althought some of the more developed locations like camp victory have sergovia IP phones
Soldiers have to pay for that service for the most part-how much they pay depends on where they are and where they are calling and how they dial-but there is always some cost associated.
As for not hearing-once a week is actually pretty often for a lot of spouses-i have two very good friends who are deployed near the syrian border-both are on missions frequently-usually for 3 to 10 days away from the camp they are assigned to-and one of them is at a very remote FOB where they do not have stable internet or phones-i think he calls his wife about once a week-but they are dual military and he uses a DSN or defense phone like to call her-the rest of us hear from him roughly once a month when he goes to a more developed base

 

[tarmand]

Well, the whole reason I asked is because I found a Walgreens phone card at the bottom of my purse with $18 left on it, but it expires in 10 days.

So no one in the military could use it since it's Walgreens brand?

 

[Jynohn]

Well, the whole reason I asked is because I found a Walgreens phone card at the bottom of my purse with $18 left on it, but it expires in 10 days.

So no one in the military could use it since it's Walgreens brand?

It is very nice of you to think of the soldiers who could use your extra phone minutes. Unfortunately, the card you have is probably for domestic minutes, and the amount of time that would be eaten up on making an international call would probably not make it worth while. I also doubt that it would get to a soldier within 10 days, even if you were to mail it today.

I know that my DH uses an AT&T calling card that I recharge for him from home. It uses up about 3 minutes for every domestic minute I put on the card. I still consider myself VERY lucky that I get to talk to him as much as I do. He waits in line for sometimes an hour at a time on the days he's not in the field so he can call home and let me know he's ok. He knows that I worry every day that goes by when I don't hear from him.

Thanks again for thinking of our soldiers. Even though they probably can't use the card, the thought is very much appreciated!

 

[tarmand]

It is very nice of you to think of the soldiers who could use your extra phone minutes. Unfortunately, the card you have is probably for domestic minutes, and the amount of time that would be eaten up on making an international call would probably not make it worth while. I also doubt that it would get to a soldier within 10 days, even if you were to mail it today.

I know that my DH uses an AT&T calling card that I recharge for him from home. It uses up about 3 minutes for every domestic minute I put on the card. I still consider myself VERY lucky that I get to talk to him as much as I do. He waits in line for sometimes an hour at a time on the days he's not in the field so he can call home and let me know he's ok. He knows that I worry every day that goes by when I don't hear from him.

Thanks again for thinking of our soldiers. Even though they probably can't use the card, the thought is very much appreciated!

Thank your husband for me.

I knew that I couldn't mail it in time, but I thought someone's spouse may be able to use it and I'd just PM them the 1-800 number and the pin code. That sucks that AT&T is monopolizing the phone cards.

 

[bengalbelle]

We have bought phone cards for soldiers before. I can't remember the name of the organization, but they contact us every so often and we buy another one. I never realized how difficult and expensive it is to call home.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I hesitate to post this as I was rather spoiled when DH was in Iraq, but some phones do use domestic minutes. DH had a phone and a cell issued to him, and his land phone was relayed through the states and cost domestic minutes on his AT&T card (Walgreens would have probably worked in his case). In fact I could call it from my cell and it was free (as I have free nationwide minutes).

SO, someone with a loved one with this type of setup might benefit. So this is my bump!!

 

[alabamaalan]

I know the Masonic Service Association has been working with the USO on Operation Phone Home

http://www.uso.org/pubs/8_20_2733.cfm

 

[katerkat]

Some phones can take domestic minutes. DH, when deployed, is able to make 2 15 minutes calls a week from a DSN phone that connects to a US base for free. From there, he can call a local phone number, or use a US calling card. (IE, he calls me connecting through our home base, or he uses the calling card to contact his parents.) I don't know how typical that is - he's always at the "resort" bases.