Send a prepaid phone to iraq?

My fiance just found out today that he will get to take his R&R Feb. 17th but because of all the stops and junk he's not sure of what day he'll get here. My brother just got back this week and he was so rushed at a couple air ports that he didnt have time to find a phone and call his wife. So I asked my fiance if i could send him just a little prepaid phone to use whenever he was in between flights, and for him to use while he's home. He said they would allow him to have it. Hes gonna have to go through kuwait, germany, atlanta and into dallas. Will a phone from here even work before he gets to atlanta? I want to make sure he calls me from there so I have enough time to make it to Dallas before his plane lands so he's not waiting.