It may seem crazy to the rest of the world but it is really an unwritten rule, when deployed a hall pass is granted automatically. Especially if you live on post. I had a soldier who said he knew it was happening but didn't want to hear about it. While others were waiting to get letters about their wives or hubbys escapades. When I was in, we had one sat phone for the entire FOB and we had limited access to the internet through the MWR so letters had to suffice. Needless to say, many of us got letters with Polaroids attached. It was pretty cool