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Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that all product photographs, descriptions and specifications on this website are accurate. However, inadvertent errors may occur, and changes in design or materials, due to our continual effort to improve products, may result in some change in specifications before subsequent publications are issued.
Any Soldier® reserves the right to modify or change specifications without notice.

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HM1 Randahl Benson
- U. S. Navy -
Iraq
HM1 Randahl Benson
(Address not available or expired.)
Make a donation, please. Click HERE AFTER you get an address.
(This address has been requested 10 times.) (NOTE **)
Sailor's Title: MWR Representative
APO/FPO: FPO AP (Note 1*)
Added here: 01 May 2007
End date: 02 Aug 2007 (Note 3*)
Contact for approx number of Males: 50, Females: 20 (Note 5*)
Unit is from: Arizona (Note 6*)

05 Aug 2007:
Aaah! It’s been a while since I’ve written anything and for that I apologize. Lots of changes around here for me! I have been permanently assigned to a forward operating base (FOB) which has been quite a change. While my job description hasn’t changed, my duties have changed considerably. FOBs are generally very remote and self-sustaining locations. The personnel out here use a lot of Iraqi infrastructure, sewer, water, etc. My job is to evaluate potential health hazards and figure out ways to reduce or eliminate them. The biggest problem seems to be standing water and sewage which can lead to a host of health problems. Flies and mosquitos are in abundance and are the biggest immediate concern as they commonly transmit disease. Aside from my Preventive Medicine duties, the Battallion Aid Station (BAS) here is part of the chain through which combat casualties are channeled. This means that I get to deal with a lot more trauma medicine than at my previous location. Very rewarding at times but also very difficult. Well that’s about all for now. Thank you again for all of your support. I apologize if I haven’t gotten thank you notes to some of you lately. Time is at a premium here but rest assured, you are greatly appreciated by all the sailors, marines, and soldiers you are supporting. Thank you!

HM1 (FMF) Randahl S Benson

15 Jun 2007

I'm the guy second from the right in back.

I have enclosed a picture of myself and some of the members of our unit and on of our shot exercises. We've been keeping busy with our day to day sickcall duties, convoy coverages and recently some of our female Corpsmen have been doing some humanitarian work in one of the towns near our base. It has been well received and they typically see between 150 and 200 women and children in a day.

Your words of support and packages are a great morale booster to our unit and the other units we work with. Thanks again.

Below is the text of a letter that I have sent to some of our supporters to give them a little better understanding of what we do.

*My name is Randahl Benson. I am a Hospitalman First Class in the U.S. Navy. I am writing to thank you for the recent letters and packages that you have sent me and my fellow servicemen. Anything and everything is much appreciated and has been or will be put to good use. I apologize for not responding as quickly as I would have liked, but I am sure you understand. I know this not too personal and I will try to send individual notes as well but I wanted to let you know that the items have been received.

You may be wondering what the Navy does in the desert, so I’ll give you a quick rundown of what we do. Hospital Corpsman or “Doc”, as we are affectionately referred to by our Marines, are the largest rating or job specialty in the Navy. We serve in many locations from hospitals and clinics in the States and Overseas to the field with Marines and Navy Seabees. Hospital Corpsmen are highly trained and while often compared to Army medics, our training is much more rigorous and broad in scope.

From boot camp, most of us go through 16 weeks of training which covers anatomy to first aid to basic nursing skills. Those of us who serve with Marines (Marines do not have a medical MOS), then receive 8 weeks of field training where we learn to do what Marines do. We learn additional combat medical skills as well as how to handle and operate weapons, radios, and other Marine Corps equipment. Corpsman serving with Marines do everything Marines do and then while the Marines take a break our work begins. We run around patching them up, administering medications, and providing whatever medical care they need. When we’re done, it’s usually time to move again, thus our breaks are not really breaks at all. In the field, all of this medical care is done without the supervision of a doctor. This is why we get the name “Doc”.

Hospital Corpsmen are the most highly decorated specialty in the Navy and have served along side Marines in every major battle since the Hospital Corps was established. A Navy Corpsman was a member of the group who raised the American Flag on Mount Suribachi that is so famously depicted.

The Hospital Corps is further divided into several specialties. We have lab techs, x-ray techs, or techs and so on. My specialty is preventive medicine. While I still have the basic responsibilities as a Corpsman, I am also responsible for camp sanitation, immunizations, food and water sanitation, as well as numerous other tasks that fall under the broad heading “preventive medicine”. The name speaks for itself. Anything that can prevent illness, injury or disease is my responsibility.

A little about me. I joined the Navy in 1994 from Saint Louis, MO where I was living at the time. After my boot camp and formal schooling, my first duty station was with the Seabees or (Naval Construction Battallion). From there I went on to work at a Navy medical clinic on the same base. After that, I was transferred to a Marine unit in Yuma, AZ and finally to the medical clinic in Yuma. I am currently serving with a (MAW) Marine Air Wing in Iraq. So for me, Iraq isn’t that much different from where I came from, hot and sandy.

Again, I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and the Marines and Sailors I serve with.

HM1 (FMF) Randahl Benson   

01 May 2007
Hello. I am currently on an airbase here in Iraq. However, due to my job as a Preventive Medicine Tech, I get out to many of the FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) on a regular basis. As many of the FOBs I go to are in very remote areas, mail and other amenities are sporadic at best. It is my intent to distribute items to these areas on each of my visits. Useful items include snacks, razors, baby wipes, bodywash, books, cds, dvds, socks, underwear, etc. Thank you for your support.

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IMPORTANT! DO NOT PRINT THIS PAGE!!!

Why? Because this list changes all the time due to unit movements, soldier transfers, or even soldier casualties.
It is also illegal. ALL content on this site is copyright Any Soldier Inc.
DO NOT send any letter or package to a soldier's address unless you check this web site the same day you mail your packages.
Please do not burden the soldiers or the APO/FPO by sending things when the soldiers are gone. If a soldier is not listed here anymore then that soldier's address is expired. Check here often!

Note that some of the units do not have ranks shown on their addresses.
This is done at the unit's request, but ALL of our contacts ARE Servicemembers.

Be sure to change the "ATTN" line to "ATTN: Any Female Sailor if your package is for a female!

DO NOT use this program if you expect or require a reply!
DO NOT expect, or require, a reply from a Sailor!
A supporter said it perfectly, "I mean, these guys and gals have other things on their minds, y’know? Like...oh, STAYING ALIVE?"

(NOTE *): Effective 1 May 2006 this web site added a major layer of security to our contacts' information. This change is necessary to protect our troops and ensure that Any Soldier will continue to operate.
The ONLY changes are that the addresses of our contacts are now hidden and the number of addresses you can get are limited. You may obtain addresses simply by clicking on the link provided and correctly filling out the form, the address will then be emailed to you immediately.

(NOTE **): The number shown is how many times a form was submitted requesting this address. This does NOT necessarily mean that this contact will be helped by that many folks. Rule of thumb is that anything 5 requests or less may in fact be no support at all. No way to tell exactly unless the contact lets you know in his/her update how much support they are getting.

(Note 1.): Note that postage to APO AE and FPO AE (E = Europe) is only to NY where the connection to the APO/FPO (APO = Army Post Office)(FPO = Fleet Post Office) is, or to San Francisco for APO AP and FPO AP (P = Pacific), so you don't pay postage all the way to Iraq/Afghanistan. You might consider picking contacts closer to your mailing area to help cut the cost of mailing. If you live on the East Coast, pick "AE", West Coast, pick "AP", Midwest, well...uh, Thank You for your Support! ;)

New with us (December 2005) you might notice "APO AA" and "FPO AA". This is for units in the Caribbean/South America. Normally. However, due to the nature of some units they may be in Iraq but have an address showing "FPO AA". Mail addresses to "AA" goes out of Miami, Florida.

(Note 2.): Why are military addresses weird? There isn't a street address or city. What gives? Correct, just about everything about the military is weird to civilians. Military units are very mobile, they move around a lot, often they even become part of another unit. The APO (Army Post Office) and FPO (Fleet Post Office) assign APO and FPO numbers as needed, they are NOT static. An APO/FPO number may be for a large unit, or a location. An APO/FPO number for Baghdad today may be for Frankfurt tomorrow.

(Note 3.): The "Expect to not mail past" date is only an approximate and is one of the least reliable things on this web site. It is because of this that you must check often before you send anything to this unit. There are a few reasons this date is not reliable, to include: it IS the Military, we ARE dealing with the APO/FPO/DPO. The only thing that does not change in the military is that things will change. PLEASE NOTE that a Contact is dropped off our active list 30 days PRIOR to their date leaving to help avoid mail bouncing.

(Note 4.): (Removed for OPSEC reasons)

(Note 5.): The lines, "Contact with approx number of Soldiers:" and "Approx how may Female Soldiers:" have NOTHING to do with unit strength. They are approximately how many other Troops the Contacts believe they can get packages to. This helps you understand that you should not send 100 packages to someone who only deals with 10 Troops.
Don't forget that if your package is for a female Soldier, be sure to change "ATTN: Any Soldier®" to "ATTN: Any Female Soldier".

( Note 6.): This is simply where the unit this contact is from. This is NOT a true picture of the folks in the unit as most all units are made up of folks from all over the United States.) A "Composite Unit" is one made up of other units and is usually temporary for a particular mission.

( Note 7.): Updated APO/FPO/DPO mailing restrictions> courtesy of Oconus.com (gone now) (Note: About Restriction "U2": "U2 - Limited to First Class Letters", Box "R" is for retired personnel that live overseas and are still authorized an APO/FPO box. Their address will be something like Box 3345R. Doubt you will see anything like that in Afghanistan or Iraq or ...)(Please Note: Sometime in August 2013, Oconus.com changed the code on their page and our form doesn't work with them anymore, so a link to their page is the best we can do, sorry.)

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Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that all product photographs, descriptions and specifications on this website are accurate. However, inadvertent errors may occur, and changes in design or materials, due to our continual effort to improve products, may result in some change in specifications before subsequent publications are issued.
Any Soldier® reserves the right to modify or change specifications without notice.