• Look for uplifting gifts to raise morale.military image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
  
  Choosing the best military transfer gift is easy if you consider what makes sense for you loved one. Gifts to encourage morale and keep spirits up are some of the best received gifts. Pick things like preserves, coffee and tea, or anything comforting to remind him or her of home. Tuck in some photos and you have a gift to remind your loved one how much you appreciate what they are doing.
  
  

Care Packages

• Care packages are a perfect option for your loved one in the military. Package the gifts yourself or choose one of several gift baskets created for military staff. Gift baskets often have a variety of snack items and time fillers like word search or crossword puzzle books, hacky sacks and stress balls. Personalize the care package by building your own gift basket. Fill it with your soldier's favorite snacks to ease the homesickness he or she might be feeling. Add things like sudoku puzzles, comic books or magazines on your loved one's favorite topics. You could even add a local newspaper for additional reading material.
  
  

Books

• Send your soldier something to occupy his or her downtime. If you know what your loved one enjoys reading, pick some titles he or she probably hasn't read and package them together. If you are not sure, choose a variety of titles, one comedy, one drama and one graphic novel, for instance. Focus on books like "Jarhead," "Three Kings" or the "Blackhawk Down" movie tie-in, all of which have a strong military theme throughout. Another good idea for books is to purchase a series, whether they be political thrillers, vampire books or westerns. Package the tomes with a notebook or some stationary to make it easy for him or her to keep up a correspondence and stay in touch.
  
  

Miscellaneous Gifts

• Other ideas for military transfer gifts include DVDs. Look for comedies and adventurous themes or even fantasy or science fiction, anything entertaining. Send games for a hand held game systems, or even a new game console if he or she does not currently have one. To offer cheer with music you can purchase an iPod and load it with both songs he or she loves and upbeat songs to keep spirits up. T-shirts, watches, toques and socks all make for comforting and thoughtful gifts. Novelty items bring smiles and can be useful, too. Items like hot sauce with a grenade top or in a camouflage holster would be a nice addition to any gift.