In what's become an annual tradition, the Navy Exchange Service (NEXCOM) plans to hand out free phone cards to sailors and Marines who are away from home over the holidays.
The AT&T cards, worth $10 each, will be given to almost 33,000 sailors and Marines on 62 ships and submarines, NEXCOM officials said in a release.
The cards will be sent to the Commander Master Chief (CMC) to distribute, officials said.
“NEXCOM is honored to be giving free phone cards to sailors and Marines deployed and away from home this holiday season,” Thomas Harris, a program manager for NEXCOM said. “NEXCOM has been giving away free phone cards over the holidays for many, many years. This is our way of thanking our service members and their families for the sacrifices they make while in service to our country."
Not every sailor or Marine who receives a card is deployed to an overseas locations, officials said. Ships and submarines simply not at their home ports will also receive the cards.
The cards can be used with the Afloat Personal Telecommunications Service system, the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) system or ashore anywhere in the U.S. or overseas where AT&T has a presence, officials said in a release.
According to the release, the 62 ships and subs that will get cards this year are: USS Eisenhower, USS Wasp, USS San Antonio, USS Whidbey Island, USS San Jacinto, USS Monterey, USS Stout, USS Roosevelt, USS Mason, USS Nitze, USS Makin Island, USS Somerset, USS Comstock, USS Pittsburg, USS Helena, USS New Mexico, USS California, USS Mount Whitney, USS Donald Cook, USS Carney, USS Ross, USS Porter, USS Tempest, USS Hurricane, USS Monsoon, USS Typhoon, USS Sirocco, USS Squall, USS Chinook, USS Firebold, USS Whirlwind, USS Thunderbolt, USS Lake Champlain, USS Port Royal, USS Barry, USS Hopper, USS McCampbell, USS Sampson, USS Wayne E. Meyer, USS Michael Murphy, USS Topeka, USS Chicago, USS Oklahoma City, USS Key West, USS Santa Fe, USS Cheyenne, USS Columbus, USS Louisville, USS Jacksonville, USS Ashland, USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Germantown, USS Green Bay, USS Antietam, USS Chancellorsville, USS Shiloh, USS Ronald Reagon, USS Curtis Wilbur, USS John S. McCain, USS Fitzergerald, USS Stethem, USS Benfold and USS Mustin.
