“Even in this age of e-mails, instant messages, and video chats, nothing provides the morale boost to a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine like regular packages or letters from home,” says Rep. Tom Davis, (R-Va.), chairman of the Government Reform Committee. Legislation approved by his committee would direct the Pentagon and Postal Service to run a one-year test for troops serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. The troops would receive, each month, a voucher they could send to family members, who would be able to mail one letter or parcel to the service member.
Since U.S. forces withdrew from Somalia earlier this year, they have been “commuting to work” via aircraft to help train Somali troops, but without a ground presence there is limited intelligence understanding, the head of U.S. Africa Command told lawmakers. In December 2020, former President Donald J. Trump ordered U.S.…