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Military mail
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Military mail is a special military postal system, used to integrate the civil postal system in a given country with that country's military posted overseas. Many nations have special systems to transport mail to and from their soldiers stationed abroad.
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Encyclopedia
Military mail is a special military postal system, used to integrate the civil postal system in a given country with that country's military posted overseas. Many nations have special systems to transport mail to and from their soldiers stationed abroad. Mail bound for military destinations overseas is normally transported to a designated main office in the home country for consolidation, after which it is transported to the foreign destination, where it is sorted and delivered by military postal clerks to individual recipients.
A primary feature of military mail systems is that normally they are subsidized to ensure that military mail posted between duty stations abroad and the home country (or vice versa) does not cost the sender any more than normal domestic mail traffic. In some cases, military personnel in a combat zone may post letters and/or packages to the home country for free, while in others, senders located in a specific overseas area may send military mail to another military recipient, also located in the same overseas area, without charge. Additionally, military postal systems in a host nation may have special agreements with that host nation's postal service allowing military postal customers to send mail to addresses in that host nation at the military's domestic postage rate using their own postage and currency. Merchandise and other goods sent via military mail systems may also enjoy duty-free privileges in accordance with Status of Forces Agreements.
The first known use of military mail was by the Egyptian army in 2000 B.C. Modern military mail is used by various armies, and in some nations may even vary depending on the branch of service.
British military postal services
The origins of the British military postal services can be traced back to Saxon times. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle make mention of messengers being sent by King Edward the Elder (899-924) to recall members of the Kent fyrd, but it is generally regarded that the origins of the postal services stem from the Kings Messengers (Nuncii et Cursores) of medieval times.
The provision of a mail service to soldiers was a very ad hoc affair until 1882 when the Army Post Office Corps (APOC) was raised from 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers to accompany the British Expeditionary Force sent to Egypt in the same year. Its task was to perform "Postal Duties in the Field". The 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers was recruited entirely from the staff of the British General Post Office, and was commanded by Lt Col JL du Plat Taylor, whose idea it was to have a Postal Corps.
In 1913 the Army Post Office Corps was re-organised to form the Royal Engineers (Postal Section), under a Director of the Army Postal Service (DAPS), Lt Col W Price RE. The service remained part of the Royal Engineers until it was transferred to the Royal Logistic Corps on its formation in 1993.
At the end of World War I (1914-18), the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) along with the Royal Air Force (RAF) helped to pioneer international airmail services, by setting up airmail routes between Folkstone, England and Cologne (Köln), Germany to service the British Army of the Rhine. During World War II (1939-45), they popularised the aérogramme, when they adopted it as the Air Mail Letter Card in 1941 to reduce the bulk and weight of mail so that it could be transported by air.
In 1962 the Royal Engineers (Postal & Courier Communications), took over the responsibility for handling the Royal Navy’s mail and thereby became a provider of a tri-service facility based in the old Middlesex Regiment's Depot at Mill Hill. Most of the 'Posties' in the hangar-like sorting office were female.
German Army (Bundeswehr)
The Bundeswehr's military mail system is known in German as Feldpost; all mail to or from missions abroad is sent to Darmstadt (near Frankfurt am Main), where outbound mail is sent via land or air to the Bundeswehr's overseas stations, and inbound mail is dispatched to German domestic addresses, or to foreign destinations. These include Kosovo, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Feldpost addresses consist of the word "Feldpost" and a four-digit number beginning with "64" followed by two additional digits denoting the specific mission (e.g., 6401, etc.). Postal rates for the Feldpost are the same as domestic German postal rates. The Feldpost offers the same service to its customers as the Deutsche Post does within Germany.
Indian Army Postal Service Corps
Largely based on the system followed by the British Indian Army in the 19th century, the Indian Military provides the services of the Army Postal Service Corps which handles the mails for the three defence forces (Army, Navy, Air Force). The Corps however is part of the Indian Army, and is staffed by volunteers from the civilian Indian Postal Service. Mails written to soldiers on field posting do not contain their regular postal address, but their number, rank, name, and Unit number ending with a suffix - "c/o xxx A.P.O". Soldiers are also not allowed to send mails from regular civil Post Offices even if their area of duty have such facilities. For more information, visit the .
U.S. Military Postal Service Agency
Until 1980, each U.S. military service and government agency managed its own mail program. In 1980, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) designated the U.S. Secretary of the Army as the single military mail manager. The Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) was created to perform this task, with a jointly-staffed headquarters located in the National Capital Region. MPSA is required to adhere to United States Postal Service (USPS) rules, federal laws, and various international laws and agreements for movement of military mail into over 85 countries. MPSA is the single DoD point of contact with the USPS. It conducts DoD contingency planning and provides postal support to theater Combatant Commanders through Services' theater postal commands. It serves as a proponent of DoD's cost control policy for DoD official mail and as the functional director for military mail. MPSA also monitors transportation funds dedicated to overseas mail movement.
In addition to supporting U.S. military installations overseas, the MPSA also supports mail delivery to and from U.S. diplomatic and consulary facilities abroad and, of course, to deployed personnel in combat zones worldwide. Most USPS special services, such as Certified Mail, registered mail, insured mail, certificate of mailing, return receipt, restricted delivery and return receipt for merchandise are available in the military postal service. Collect on delivery (COD) and delivery confirmation services are not available (EMMS). Mail sent from one military post office (MPO) to another MPO in the same theater (e.g., mail from an MPO in Japan to another MPO in Singapore) can be sent for free on a space available basis. Because the DoD provides or pays for overseas transport for U.S. military mail between the U.S. and overseas duty stations, as well as delivery services in theater, military postage rates are equivalent to U.S. domestic postage rates. All military mail between the U.S. and overseas locations is subject to customs inspection in the country of destination, and customs declarations must normally be attached to packages and larger mail pieces. Some host nations may restrict or prohibit the mailing or receipt of certain items, such as pornography, meat products (especially pork), firearms, tobacco, etc., via the U.S. military postal system. Other host nations (e.g., Germany) may have a special interchange agreement with the military postal service allowing for the mailing of articles to host nation addresses at U.S. domestic postal rates.
In accordance with treaties and other international agreements, use of U.S. military postal services overseas is normally restricted to authorized customers, i.e., U.S. Government personnel (military, civilian and diplomatic) stationed overseas (either permanently or on temporary duty orders) and their dependents. Further restrictions may exist on a country-by-country basis depending on the host nation involved and the status of the postal customer. Retired U.S. military personnel living overseas may also have limited access to the military postal service, depending on their country of residence. The only purpose for which U.S. citizens associated with neither the U.S. forces nor diplomatic/consulary missions may use military post offices is the sending of absentee ballots. The easiest way for U.S. citizens not affiliated with the U.S. government to obtain access to the military postal service while overseas is at a U.S. consulate or embassy, as access to other overseas facilities may be restricted.
Overseas military post offices operated or supported by the Army or Air Force use the city abbreviation APO [Army Post Office / Air (Force) Post Office], while overseas military post offices operated or supported by the Navy, Marine Corps or U.S. Coast Guard use the city abbreviation FPO (Fleet Post Office). Three quasi-state codes have been assigned depending on the (approximate) geographic location of the military mail recipient and also the carrier route to be taken. They are:
- AE (Armed Forces Europe / Canada / Middle East / Africa) - 09XXX
- AP (Armed Forces Pacific) - 962XX through 966XX
- AA (Armed Forces Americas [excluding domestic and Canada]) - 340XX
Examples
See also
External links
- Private page
- Mailing privileges of members of Armed Forces of the United States and of friendly foreign nations
- 16 October 2006, Appendix K
- 15 August 2002
- gives Secretary of Defense authority to designate free mail areas
- Army Postal Services
- Private page
- - Homepage of a project that collects German war letters from World War II for research. Articles about the work of the organisation, of censorship, and a complete list of references can be found. Some examples in facsimile are translated. The private project is supported by the Museum of Communication Berlin
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