If you can think of any questions that families have, but that we haven't
answered yet, please send them to our web team so we can add them!
Index of Frequently Asked Questions
> How long
will it take for my soldier to contact me?
> How can I
contact my soldier while he's deployed?
> How do I
correctly address a letter to my soldier?
> How do I
contact my soldier in an emergency?
> Do service
members have access to email?
> How long
will my soldier be deployed?
> What should
/ shouldn't I send in care packages?
> What if
something happens to my soldier?
> Where can I
get an "any soldier" address?
> How much
does it cost to send a letter?
> Where do I
go for help back home?
How long will it take for my
soldier to contact me?
Most family members want to know that their soldier made the trip overseas okay, and, if they weren't given an address before deployment, they want the address. However, you will need to be patient.
It's a long flight, often with a lengthy layover, and once the troops arrive they have to unload their gear and move to where they will be stationed. They also usually go through a train-up period in Kuwait before actually proceeding to their destination in Iraq. Once there, they will have to get settled in, attend meetings, and possibly go through some training as well.
Your soldier may not be able to get to a phone right away.
You should allow anywhere from two weeks to a month before you'll be able to
hear from your soldier - either by phone, mail, and in some cases email. If your
soldier doesn't contact you within a month, please get in touch with your family
support group by phone or email, or during a support group meeting, to see if
you're the only one.
Do not contact the Red Cross to send an emergency message simply because you have not yet had contact.
How can I contact my soldier while he's deployed?
The standard way of contacting your service members stationed in the Middle East is by snail mail, or, depending on where your soldier is at, via email.
Regular postal mail generally takes anywhere from 5 to 15 days, and even longer during the holidays due to the amount of mail sent to service members overseas. You should use the address provided to you either by the unit before your soldier left, or by your soldier once he or she contacts you.
You can also contact your soldier via email, preferably by using their AKO or other military email address, if they can access the Internet in their location. Please check with your soldier first to see if he has computer access readily available to him.
Please also note that soldiers can no longer access "free" email accounts such as Yahoo or Hotmail from their work computers due to the threat of computer viruses. Many military computer systems also block access to personal and chat sites, such as Yahoo 360, Livejournal, or MySpace. But, if your soldier has access to an web cafe run by a contractor or has his own computer (many locations now have web access for individual soldiers stationed there), he can access those.
How do I correctly address a letter to my soldier?
The standard formatting of your soldiers address should be as follows:
rank & name --> PVT Joe Snuffy
unit address --> 1st Plt A Co 1/111th PIR
APO info --> APO AE 12345
Never include the name of the country with the address.
Now please bear in mind that this is just a very basic example. Some addresses
require the inclusion of other information, and that should be provided to you
by your soldier, or the unit's rear detachment, either before or after your
soldier leaves.
Some questions have also been asked regarding what to put as a return address. You should use your name and home address, just as you would on any other mail, unless you are specifically advised not to do so, and/or given an address to put instead, by the unit's rear detachment or during a family support group meeting.
How do I contact my soldier in an emergency?
If your family is experiencing an emergency, such as the death or serious illness of a family member, you may send an emergency message through the American Red Cross. More information about this service available on the Red Cross website or at your local Red Cross office on base.
You should not use the American Red Cross to ask your soldier about updating his/her power of attorney, to send updates about a family member's progressing illness, or for any other reason than an absolute emergency. Always remember that misusing the Red Cross services to send personal messages or "updates" means another soldier might not get an important message.
Do service members have access to Email?
Short answer: In most cases, yes.
Long answer: It depends on the location your soldier is deployed to. If he is stationed at a established base in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, then there is a very good chance that he will have to ability to access any email account he has, military or civilian, at an MWR "internet cafe" location on their post, or that he can access his military (AKO) email on a military computer system.
If your soldier is stationed inside Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom,
depending on which camp he is at, he may not yet have personal internet access
available to him.
It is best to always use a soldier's military email account, such as the Army's
AKO email account, to send mail. Depending on where a soldier is at, he may not
be able to access free email services like Yahoo or Hotmail due to security
concerns. Please note that AKO and most other military emails do not allow some
types of file attachments to be sent and any such attachments will be removed.
When sending mail to military accounts, please keep in mind that there is a good chance emails may be monitored. You should never send anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with strangers - such as nude photographs, for example.
How long will my soldier be deployed?
Return dates and deployment lengths can change depending on mission changes, and the readiness of other units who may deploy to relieve your soldier's unit. The average time of a rotation is either six months or a year.
Troops deployed to Iraq as part of Iraqi Freedom (as opposed to "in support of") may be deployed for longer or shorter periods of time, depending on their unit's mission and the military's needs.
If you are unsure about how long your soldier will be deployed, contact the rear detachment or family support group for information, or ask your soldier to keep you updated when he hears about a new redeployment date.
What should / shouldn't I send in care packages?
We have a fairly extensive section to answer questions just about care packages. Please use the menu on the left to access that information.
What if something happens to my soldier?
If you hear on the TV that your soldier's unit came under attack, or that your soldier's unit took casualties, the first thing you need to do is stay calm.
Should your soldier have gotten injured in an incident, even if it is a minor injury, you will be contacted by the unit's rear detachment and/or the unit's chaplain in person as soon as possible after it happens. You will not receive a phone call, they will inform you in person.
Please make sure that the rear detachment and family support group have an address at which they can reach you, even when you travel to family during the holidays. If something happens, they have to be able to get a hold of you.
The only time you will not be contacted by the rear detachment or by support group personnel is if your soldier has a very negligible injury - a sprained ankle, for example - because this does not really require your notification.
Where can I get an "any soldier" address?
Officially, you can't. Or at least, you shouldn't.
The US military has discontinued its "any soldier" mailing program because of concerns for soldiers' safety - the big Anthrax scare played a part in this. The armed services are also asking that, unless you know a soldier personally and are sending him or her mail as a friend, you please don't send bundles of letters of packages to deployed troops overseas.
This is not done to keep civilians from sending mail to the troops, but rather to ease the strain on an already taxed military mail system that often delays letters from family and loved ones.
If you have a soldier who asked for pen pals, it's a different situation - but please do not locate random soldiers' addresses and bombard them with mail. Send mail to soldiers whose units have signed up to receive mail instead. There are also plenty of other ways you can help out the deployed soldiers and their families over here - you can check out a few of them on our website.
How much does it cost to send a letter or package?
Generally, you should send both letters and packages via the US Postal Service - services such as UPS do not deliver in Iraq. FedEx only delivers to a few specified locations.
Whenever you send a letter or parcel via the US Postal Service, it goes from where you mail it off, to a US military facility in the United States - at which points it leaves the hands of the Postal Service and is being transported by the military or on contracted aircraft. Unlike what some post offices will tell you, you are not required to pay international postage on your letters or packages, although all packages need to have a customs slip affixed to them.
You should mail all your letters and packages as standard mail or priority mail. You will often get a cheaper rate sending your package via priority mail and you can also use the free flat-fee envelopes and boxes available from the Post Office or postal service website. Don't "overnight" or "express mail" your packages and letters, since that won't make it get there any faster.
Shipping cost is the same than mailing a parcel inside the United States as long as you send it to an APO or FPO mailing address anywhere in the world. If your local post office tells you otherwise they are wrong or the clerk is unaware of how mail sent to APO / FPO addresses is transported.
Where do I go for help while my soldier is deployed?
This really depends on what kind of help you need.
A good place to start would be our long list of family links in the support & help section, which has many links to services offered to military families through the Army Community Service, Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) and a large number of other organizations. The link list includes info that is sorted by topics - on deployment, moving, family team building, information specifically for spouses, children, or parents of service members.
Another good place to go is your family support group, the Red Cross office on the base nearest to you, or pastoral services on base, depending on the kind of help and support you need.