10 Military Personalized Gifts for the Holidays
Military service is all about uniformity. Uniformed personnel dress the same, follow a rigid set of rules to govern themselves on and off duty, and they live and perform within standards.
It should come as no surprise that those who serve or have served like a little bit of individualism when they can get it. With all that conformity and selfless service, it’s okay to remind a friend or loved one that they are individuals. Sure, there is no “I” in team, but it’s okay to give a military personalized gift to someone you care about who always puts everyone first.
Military personalized gifts are fantastic things to give during the holidays that show the person you care about that you value them for who they are, but also for what they do. Here is USAMM’s list of top ten military personalized gifts in no particular order.
Battle Mug
This thing is bad ass and frankly, one of the best military personalized gifts you can buy. If the recipient is someone who carried or carries a rifle as part of their military profession, they will love this gift. The Battle Mug is fully customizable. Not only can you put their name, rank, and unit information on it, or anything else that you think belongs on there, but you can also add a rifle-like handle, railings, and their ribbon rack to it. This isn’t one of those military personalized gifts that they will set aside and place on a shelf. This rugged mug will get used regularly and will be a career heirloom for whomever receives it.
Alder Plaques
The Alder plaques are unique military personalized gifts that can capture a service members entire career or just a snapshot of it. These are great military personalized gifts because there is plenty of room on the high-quality wood’s surface to include a career’s worth of military awards and badges, or just limit it to awards or badges earned during a specific period, like a deployment or temporary duty mission. Either way, these fully customized Alder plaques are colorful and ideal military personalized gifts.
Navy Custom Ship 3D Laser Engraved Plaque
There are a lot of choices for military personalized gifts for sailors or veteran salts. One of our favorite military personalized gifts are the ship 3D laser engraved plaques. They make wonderful holiday military personalized gifts because the sailor/former sailor can select his/her ship class, name, and hull number, and it will all be custom engraved. These are great for quarters, offices or man cave or she shed.
Shadowboxes
Shadowboxes will always be incredible military personalized gifts. This is a go-to gift which obviously can be personalized by adding the individual’s awards, badges, and mementos. They can also be customized by having a brass plaque engraved and placed inside the box which has the recipient’s name and military information on it. Empty shadowboxes with customized brass plates make great military personalized gifts because it gives the recipient a blank canvas and they can secure their military mementos in the box however they prefer.
Custom Navy Caps
Caps make great military personalized gifts because like the 3D laser plaque, they can be customized to the liking of the wearer. They can proudly display their favorite ship and rock these caps at veteran events and patriotic holidays.
Custom Rank Hats
Whether the person you are shopping for is enlisted, warrant or commissioned officer, they will love a Custom Rank Hat. These military personalized gifts are awesome and include the person’s name and rank and they come in multi-cam and coyote colors. These are great for those official/unofficial unit events where a uniform isn’t required.
Navy Ship Wrapped Canvas
Customizable Navy ship class wrapped canvas prints are awesome personalized military gifts because they are artwork that will bring color to any room or office. Much like their 3D engraved plaque cousins, the recipient can customize their print to any ship class and hull number. And they cost much less than the plaques, but like the plaques, they are still very affordable for a quality customized product.
Drinkware
Water bottles, mugs, flasks, and steins can all be customized and make great military personalized gifts. Name, rank, and other personalized information can be placed on these items.
Custom Canvas
Consider a custom canvas as a type of soft plaque. These come in various colors, including an OCP pattern, and different items and wording can be placed on it to customize it for your service member. These can also make great going away presents when a person leaves an assignment.
Polo Shirts
Our last item on our list of military personalized gifts is a polo shirt. Much like the custom rank hats, these can be customized to order with name, rank, and rank insignia. Put as little or as much as you like on this performance clothing item. It won’t disappoint. This item is great for golfers or if a unit wants a to sport a uniform look at events, like a cookout or a community service project.
The thing to remember when shopping for a service member for the holidays is to know what they will like. Customized and personalized military gifts are great for those who are serving because it enables them to show their pride while still in uniform. For veterans or retirees, the customized gifts also enable them to show their service pride, but it also reconnects them to a significant part of the lives.
Customized military gifts make great holiday gifts and just remember to shop well enough ahead of time to allow for shipping time. Holiday shipping delays are always something to take into consideration.
