A very small force and not “peacekeepers” as there is not a UN mandate. The US military has no “fees” for anything. If you are being asked for one you are not communicating with a US soldier. If you’re talking with an American “peacekeeper”, US military regulations and practices apply. Who would you pay the fee to? The US military has no such fee. You have been chatting with this “soldier” on a dating website. You have never met face to face. He can’t Skype with you because of “security” or it’s not available where he is. Security won’t allow phone calls either unless you pay a fee? Does this make sense to you? He can text, but not phone or use Skype??? He has time, in the middle of a war, to cruise a dating website and text with you??? So you have sent him things and he has sent you romantic notes. He has “fallen in love “ with you. I can predict what his next few messages will be. He can’t get access to funds but has to pay to get out of Aleppo or wherever, for a replacement or for equipment he lost, insurance or some other made up reason. If you will send him the funds he can come to you. Something is ringing in the back of your head that this is not what it seems to be, you’re probably 99% right, it isn’t. Here are a couple of quick tests you can do. Ask him to send you on his military email account a list of what he needs from you…it probably won’t happen,(“security”) again, but if it does the email address should end with .mil [ nothing else just .mil ] every member of the military has one, some use it every day, Ask for his APO address (you have some phone cards, cookies etc you want to send) no APO address? APO covers the whole world. “security” again? He’s not real. Don’t feel bad. You’re not the Lone Ranger. There is a very common scam going at the moment involving people who pretend to be soldiers but are not. A new wrinkle in this scam is to pretend to be US soldiers on UN Peacekeeping missions in Syria, Nigeria or other countries. They have gone to this because many Americans are familiar with the other scams. It also allows them to use Nigerian addresses to receive things and money sent from the US. The scam usually begins on a dating-relationship web site with females. The “soldier” will get friendly and groom the woman that he has a strong attraction for her, perhaps even mention marriage. Then they begin to ask for things they allegedly can’t get from their service. Cell phones, money, food, medical treatment, leave etc. They usually identify themselves as some sort of special force which means they can’t Skype or talk directly. (Special operators will never tell someone, especially someone they’ve never met that they are, it’s against the rules. They typically Skype and communicate with family and friends) The scammers send pictures of soldiers acquired from the web so you won’t know they’re really a fifteen year old Nigerian. Sometimes it’s even a woman perpetrating the scam. So they ask for things of value in their country. Iphones, Itunes, Amazon cards etc. Often they will tell the woman that they have no access to funds while deployed, so they need money but will pay you back “when they see you”. They will also say they need to pay for service procedures like leave etc. None of this is true. The service pays their people every two weeks. When deployed they get additional allowances. They can access their money just like everybody else with a debit card. All large bases have ATMs, smaller ones often have a way of acquiring money from their accounts. If they are in the field, what are they going to buy? If there’s a need to get money to their family, they transfer the money. Car payments or other monthly payments are usually on auto pay. Most soldiers have a cell phone, almost all in fact. Except when in the field, they make and receive phone calls, though sometimes they are limited by internet capacity or security as to times. Many will buy SIM cards to put in their phones or disposable phones to take advantage of the internet in their host country which is often cheaper or offers a better signal. Many also have laptops or tablets for email, for games, for Skype, for security reasons they are not allowed in the field but that usually involves a few days or weeks. They can buy anything they want from Amazon or other internet services if it is not available locally. Large bases often have a fairly well stocked base exchange (store). If medical treatment is needed they have every kind of doctor available either in the local hospital or up the chain as far as they need to go for treatment. If a dependent needs medical care there is insurance for this and all medical care is provided at little or no cost to the family. If he’s a peacekeeper, all of this still applies. The question of leave. Every soldier gets 30 days of leave a year. The question of when is up to the service, but they are usually flexible for morale reasons. If there is a family emergency there is a department that deals with such things in cooperation with agencies like the Red Cross etc. It’s called MWR. The soldier can go there or to the chaplain and initiate the process. There is no cost to the soldier. If approved, the soldier will be flown back to the US, or often his hometown either in a military plane or commercial transport at no cost to the soldier. Food will also be provided. No cost. Getting married does not qualify for emergency leave. Regular leave. The soldier goes to his superior in the chain of command and requests leave. Normally leave is taken before or at the end of deployment,[six to nine months is a typical deployment] but if it is possible, it is often granted if it will not effect the unit. In many units it is not possible although a middle of deployment leave is not unknown. ( Let’s say I’m a helicopter mechanic. If I’m one of 15 people who work on helicopters and the work load is slow, I’ll probably be given leave. If I’m the only person available for a particular aircraft, probably not, or not right away) Let’s say I’m deployed in Aviano Italy and want to go to Rome for a few days. I go to my supervisor and fill out a form and he puts it in. No money changes hands. It goes up the chain of command and is approved or disapproved. No money changes hands. Unless it is really rare situation, my base commander or commanding general will not be involved. [A letter from a fiancee is not needed and will probably be ignored as you have no status for any communication with them]. No money changes hands. There is no special stamp or other paperwork. I do not have to pay for a replacement or “insurance”. Notice the pattern here, no money changes hands. If it did I might be brought up for discipline. I may have access to military transport but if not I buy a train or plane ticket and off I go. I use my debit card to pay my costs and have a good time. As long as I’m back when required no problem. Special operators? The same procedure.( they tend to stick together so they’ll often go as a team). I apologize for the length of this but I want you to understand, you’re being scammed. If you have already sent money through a bank transfer or credit card you may want to check with them about changing the numbers or blocking foreign transfers of cash. Don’t curse the scammer out, just block them and do not reply to any messages. If one of your girlfriends has done it as well, show her this. Better a broken heart than a broken heart and an empty bank account. What you want, [ romance etc] will never happen. Your heart’s in the right place just with the wrong “man”.