I was a 98G from 1988-1992, was stationed in Germany and ended up in Desert Shield and Desert Storm because someone decided the only way to live up to the idea of Military Intelligence was to deploy German linguists to an Arab speaking country.  Our unit, the 533rd MI BN, spent 5 months playing around in the sand then headed back to Germany to be decommissioned.  Left with the choice to either retrain in another language or ETS, I decided it was time to move on.  After I ETS'd, I went into the computer industry and after spending many years wearing suits and ties, ended up in sunny Arizona owning a couple of computer stores (Arizona Computer Outlets). 

In September I was having a late-night conversation with an old DLI (Defense Language Institute) buddy, Major John Moore (US Army) and he told me he was deploying back to Afghanistan.  I was so frustrated and wanted to figure out a way to help.  I called up Susan Walker, former director and founding member of Packages From Home and we put this whole thing together over a phone call or two.   

My goal with the Computers For Soldiers® program is to provide an affordable computer to the families of troops stationed in harm’s way so they can communicate with their soldier via email.  I buy tons of off-lease computers at auctions, so I can afford to put together a full computer package for a price that is significantly below wholesale.  I hope this helps.

- Philip Spry