The Low-Down on Passover in the Military

After numerous phone calls, emails, and hours of research, I think I finally got my head around this whole Passover thing. This should serve as a resource for any service member who wants to make sure he or she can get what they need for Passover.

There are 3 basic options for Passover food provided by the military:

• A Participant kit: includes most of the items required for 2 seders. (matzoh, haggadah, grape juice, charoset, kipah, and more) Full Details (PDF)
• A Leader’s kit: same as the participant kit, but includes a Passover Machzor and a Kittel.
• Passover MREs: There are parve and meat meals available. You would need order enough meals to last you through the holiday. Each kit does not come with matzoh, so you would need to supplement this with one of the kits above (or a care package). Full Details (PDF)

The seder kits can be ordered through the DSCP.

The MREs orders are also through DSCP, but they are handled by a different department. The POC for them is Debbie Sinno, (215) 737-3688, DSN 444-3688, FAX (215) 737-2988, or .

The deadlines are soon approaching, so you will have to act fast if you haven’t already. I apologize that this story was a little late coming to press (on JIG). Training has been intense for me lately and I wanted to make sure I had information on the DSCP story before I published this. Hopefully our care packages will fill any gaps from missed orders.

Last year, there was quite a dilemma delivering the seder kits. The original order was misdirected and discarded. Through an amazing logistics effort and a ton of overtime, a second emergency shipment found its way to the troops within five days! It’s really an amazing story. You can read the full story here (PDF).

I think it really shows how much the people at DSCP and other spots along the logistics chain are willing to help to make sure our religious needs are met.