Retired and all done with deployments.
But I've had a lot of family and friends get deployed. The latest friend just got back last Dec and seemed to appreciate everything we sent.
That stuff included:
Hoppes Bore Snake - actually the last one to come back said he didn't care for it... but he did trade it for something he wanted so it wasn't a waste.
I personally hate those multitools and have seen a lot of people get hurt using one. Plus, a lot of guys get those issued. So, I'll usually send a pocket knife like a Swiss Army Tinker. It's got the five or six common blades in it and Swiss Army knives hold a good edge. One friend lost his and asked for another. Then he lost that one. I ended up sending him a third one with a long lanyard braided on it. He brought that home.
We usually go to a novelty candy store and buy a bunch of the weirder, less-known candy and send a bunch of that. Likewise, the mail is faster than it was at the beginning and packages seem to get through faster so my wife will send homemade cookies. I had to laugh about the "no chocolate" comment posted because she sent chocolate chip cookies once and the chips melted. That happened to my nephew. He said they were messy, but they still ate them.
We used to send pre-paid phone cards, but the last friend said he didn't need them.
I guess babywipes, liquid soap and such are still desired items because we have never had any complaints.
I'll usually buy a bunch of used books at one of the local book sales and send a decent sized box of them off at least once.
Other than that, I usually wait to hear what the particular serviceman mentions he's lacking.