Does anyone understand military addresses?

[Bridget]

I had to ship an ebay item to a military address, which is no biggy, but I couldn't do delivery confirmation because the clerk said it was going overseas, even though it had an American destination on it (from what I could tell). I know the stuff gets shipped in bulk, but anyone know how they work or how to decipher them?

I know we have some military people on here!

[Silke]

What ya need to know? :biggrin:

[Melissa in Italy]

US mail that is addressed to FPO or APO leaves the USPS's hands when it hits New York (or San Francisco I think for west coast), that's why they can't offer delivery confirmation. The military takes over at that point and shipping time can't be guaranteed. Our service is pretty good and we usually get letters and packages (1st Class) in about 7-10 days. But some packages mailed 4th class have taken 8 weeks to arrive. As for deciphering the address, it's usually a bunch of acronyms indicating the command where it is being sent to, as we receive our mail at a box located at DH's work, not at our home address like you do in the states. Hope that helps!

[Bridget]

So you can't really even send Priority Mail to FPO or APO addresses then? First class only (or slower)?

[Bridget]

Oh sorry Silke I didn't see you there! Mellissa got it... it was an APO address. I just remembered the guy guessed it was going to Korea or maybe Iraq. Can't remember. I know the address had a lot of letters in it! :lol:

[Silke]

The letters are abbreviations for the the unit.

Main reason for that weird systems is so that military families don't get killed on postage but pay US postage.

[Silke]

So you can't really even send Priority Mail to FPO or APO addresses then? First class only (or slower)?
Yes, the USPS basically sends the mail to the military. Then the mail is handled through the military. So makes no sense to send anything faster.

[Melissa in Italy]

The military mail system doesn't follow USPS estimates on delivery time, though they do seem to make the effort to deliver things faster that are sent Priority or First Class and deliver things slower that are sent using a lower priority service. They tell us here there is no difference between Priority and First Class except First Class is for small items like letters, and Priority is for larger items like packages. Either will work, but it is definitely a waste of money to use overnight or 2nd day; that only guarantees it overnight or 2nd day to New York. After it is in the military's hands there's no telling how long it could take. And there's no telling where in the world that address is either. It has always amazed me that you can send mail to a ship's FPO address and the mail will find the ship wherever in the world it happens to be.