How to I send a letter to a military base in Iraq?

Question

Ok- I know this sounds like a dumb question but I've tried to send 3 letters so far to my boyfriend in Iraq and none have gotten there! Whenever I go to the post office, I tell them where I need to send it and they tell me to just put a regular stamp on it because it's still considered 'domestic'. But when I sent a package I filled out a customs form. Do I need to fill out a customs form for just a letter too? Its really pissing me off that my letters arent getting there and the post office people keep telling me the wrong info!

Answer 1

Your letter should be considered domestic mail.  The military Postal service is based out of New York City, so the stamp you are putting on the letter gets it there.  Once it is in NY they transfer it over to the military postal service which takes it overseas to Iraq.  I would check the address and also confirm with your boyfriend that the letters are not getting there, have him check with his mail clerks.  When I was over there there was a person on another base with my same name he was getting my mail and I was getting his.  We figured out the problem and had it fixed.  To answer your question about the customs form you do not need it for a letter.  

Answer 2

for a letter you only need one stamp and you just mail it out like you would a letter to anyone else.  for a package you need to fill out the customs form.  are you packages getting there? try and double check the address and make sure that you are writing it down exactly. remember that the letters take a while to get there (mine take a week but it depends on where you live in the U.S.) other then that have him go down and check to see if he has any mail that has been misplaced if he hasn't already. other then that it is weird that he isn't receiving them. even with wrong postage or a wrong address they should be returned to sender.

Answer 3

customs forms are only needed for packages, and yes letters only require domestic postage.  mail can take weeks and months to get there, especially if he is in a forward location that doesn't have regular mail drops.  

a more likely reason is the address is incorrect.  if he has moved at all, the address will have changed and it takes longer to get forwarded on to his new location.