OT: APO/FPO Mail and Military Members ** My Son In Iraq - Postage

[Guest guest]

Howdy Cindy .. Jaime .. other good folks ..

I am warning in advance that this is another of my frequent rants .. so

those who keep reading have no basis for complaint. ;-)

 

> For an APO address, you use regular postage. If you are sending a box, you

> will need to fill out the form and declare what you are sending. We always

> found it best to send the flat rate boxes from the post office. I know

last

> year, it did not take more than a week for him to usually get his

> mail...unless his unit was out and about.

 

>

Right on the mark you are .. I spent roughly half of my 30 years service

overseas and then stayed overseas for 19 more years after retirement ..

using the APO (Army Post Office) which serves U.S. Army and U.S.

Air Force installations. Lots of folks might not know that when sending a

letter to an APO address from the USA one pays to New York or San Francisco

... from there on the military takes care of the mail .. they are doing part

of the job of the US Postal System .. which means that a part of the overall

Defense Budget is used to deliver mail to military folks. The APOs are

manned full time by service members who have a Military Occupational

Specialty of Postal Worker. There is also a Fleet Postal Office (FPO) which

serves Navy installations and ships.. same rules apply.

 

There is no question in the minds of most people that there is lots and lots

of waste in the Federal Budget .. to include the Department of Defense (DOD)

Budget. Much of this waste is driven by the desires of elected

representatives who pee and moan about waste but don't vote against waste in

their own congressional districts .. nor do they vote against waste in their

own congressional budget. Most of the Congressional fact finding tours to

Turkey were conducted prior to Christmas and always we had to escort these

dudes and dudesses (and their strap hangers) to the best copper and carpet

shops .. the goodies they purchased were shipped back at taxpayer expense.

We see Congressional hearings where certain politicians can posture and

condemn military funding .. but they only do this when there is a political

reason behind their opposition .. as we see in the case of opposition to the

war in Iraq. Criticism by the " loyal opposition " always increases prior to

presidential or congressional elections. Whether opposition to staying the

course in Iraq is justified or not is not what I am about here and I hope

others will not use my post as a springboard to voice criticisms and

opposition .. if that happens we'll not gain new information and it'll be

like a dawg chasing his tail.

 

There is no question (in my mind) that opposition to Blackwater and other

private security firms working in Iraq in support of the Department of State

(DOS) is totally justified .. but the DOS is perhaps the largest squanderer

of funds in the US Gummit. The requirement for the DOS to throw away

thousands of dollars per day per man for Blackwater security was created by

Congress .. they dictate the cap on military forces. Since there is an

insufficient number of Military Police forces to protect the DOS strap

hangers .. that support must be contracted out.

 

Where I am going is .. that when the Federal Budget is misused/abused there

will be a necessary tightening of belts in certain areas .. these areas are

rarely at the top of the food chain .. they are felt down where the rubber

meets the road .. most often by the small unit commanders and the soldiers

on the ground.

 

The Military Industrial Complex has become a deeply ingrained reality in the

American Economy .. but it was a military man (Eisenhower) who first warned

us of the dangers of this. With a few rare exceptions, those who wear the

stars in the U. S. Armed Forces DO NOT agree with all requirements forced

upon them to expend funds for various projects .. but their hands are tied

by the President and his staff, the bureaucrats in the DOD and the elected

representatives of Congress. It is hard to find a 4 star general who is not

a person of high integrity .. one exception was (in my opinion) Wesley

Clark. When one makes that 4th star they are almost always beyond 30 years

service .. and until last year when they changed the law so a military

person could draw retirement based on actual years of service .. they were

gaining no longevity when they served beyond 30 years. There are generally

two men or women inside almost all of our senior general officers .. one is

a dedicated professional who cares about the United States of America, the

U.S. Armed Forces and the soldiers in the Armed Forces. These folks often

detest and have little respect for many of the unprofessional civilian

leaders who have control over their lives and actions .. but because the

generals are professionals, there is that second man or women who will give

their honest opinion when they disagree with political decisions and orders

... and then salute and say " Yes Sir " or " Yes Ma'am " after the final decision

(which is a Lawful Order) is made. They will then be in a position to be

the Scape Goat because they must loyally support that decision even in the

face of criticism .. or retire. If they retire they are then leaving the

hen house unguarded. One man who was (in my opinion) a man of very high

integrity just lately bit the dust because he was a professional. Off the

record General Pace disagreed with many of the decisions made by the

President but For The Record he was obligated to loyally support them.

 

Due to budget constraints, APO/FPO operations are not overly manned but they

are overly burdened .. for that reason the European APOs (APO AE) restrict

some users .. perhaps others do too .. I'm not sure. In Europe (which

includes Turkey) those who can receive up to 70 pound packages (not to

exceed 130 inches in combined length and girth) are active duty service

members and civilians who are " sponsored " .. meaning they work directly for

a U.S. Government (USG) entity or a contractor serving the USG if the

contract contains provisions for " sponsorship " . Others (including retired

military persons) are restricted to sending and receiving no more than 16

ounces. For the last 13 of the 19 + years I spent in Turkey I was an

American retired Army officer who owned a Turkish company who often served

the USG in various capacities .. but I was not " sponsored " so I was included

in that restriction. I was not allowed to enter the PX/BX or Commissary

because I didn't have a Ration Card. Technically, I was not even authorized

to purchase a copy of the newspaper, " Stars and Stripes " . It was a

situation where a man who had served 30 years in uniform and then 5 + years

as a direct USG contractor could not use military shopping facilities but

where the many Turkish (American citizen) employees of the U.S. Embassy

(DOS) .. their family members .. and the " sponsored " civilian contractors

and their Turkish Citizen dependents .. could use it. ;-)

 

The retired military community (there are many retirees in Turkey) and the

military Postal Workers did not like these restrictions. Some of the list

members here sent me little homemade gifts over the years .. some of these

gifts weighed over 16 ounces and the military Postal Workers always turned

their heads unless the package was way over the limit .. like 3 pounds or so

... then they (reluctantly) sent it back to sender.

 

There is a restriction in the APO system whereas mail addressed to " Any

Service member " , or similar wording such as " Any Soldier " , " Sailor " ,

" Airman " , or " Marine " ; etc., is prohibited. Mail must be addressed to an

individual or if its for " any soldier " it must be addressed to a job title

such as " Commander " , " Commanding Officer " , etc., of a specific

organization. This is a good rule because there are many cruel

anti-American, anti-military folks out and about in the world. The straw

that broke the camel's back was the Anthrax threat .. this resulted in the

Department of Defense eliminating the " Dear Any Service member " program and

the " Operation Dear Abby " mail program.

 

Did y'all also know that MANY companies will not ship to an APO or FPO

address? Some that come to mind now are Apple, Amazon, Ebay and Target ..

the reason they claim is that they have set up bulk shipping contracts with

FedEx, DHL and UPS to save money .. one must use the U.S. Postal System to

ship to an APO/FPO address. I refuse to buy from Target for this and some

other reasons, and have done my best to make all military folks know that

Target refuses to serve them. I have asked them to tell their buddies when

they discover a company that refuses to serve military folks overseas .. and

to write to those companies telling them that they'll not buy from them even

after returning to the USA.

 

Also .. during my time overseas I found that MANY companies had no

provisions in their drop down Shopping Carts or Secure Credit Card

verification systems for shipping to APO addresses .. the reason (in most

cases) was that they didn't want to do it .. the other reason was that many

were amateurish and demanded a State address but there was none to give.

If you find a company that is willing to send packages to service members

overseas they will have one of the following in their drop down address and

CC system column .. these are the ONLY legitimate APO addresses ..

 

APO AA .. Armed Forces Americas

APO AE .. Armed Forces Europe

APO AP .. Armed Forces Pacific

 

More Trivia .. its not just the U.S. Postal Service that is served by

military members .. they also serve the U.S. Department of Agriculture

(USDA) and the U.S. Customs Service (USCS). The only Active Duty

organization that has this duty as their primary mission is the 42d MP Group

(Customs) in Germany .. commanded by a U.S. Army Military Police Brigadier

General ..

http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/MilitaryPolice/USAREUR_42ndMPGp.htm

however,

some U.S . Army Military Police personnel are trained by the USDA/USCS to

screen shipments from returning U.S. military personnel and those civilians

that are " sponsored " , on a case by case basis .. but its not their primary

duty. These folks have the additional specialty of Military Customs

Inspector. While serving as Chief of Plans and Operations for U.S. Army

Central Command (Third U.S. Army) one of my duties was to oversee these

operations when we deployed tens of thousands of troops to Africa and the

Middle East for real world security missions and training missions.

Technically, the military could have allowed the USDA and USCS to screen all

these troops when they redeployed to the USA but it would have had a

negative impact on the morale of the troops if they had to wait in line for

many hours to be screened prior to entry. Because the Army takes care of

its own (USAF, USN and USMC troops are included as their own) .. they

decided to take on the mission outside the USA .. when the troops were

preparing to redeploy. Their baggage was screened .. isolated in a sterile

area .. and shipped. When the troops returned to the USA they picked up

their baggage and headed to the barracks for a hot shower and good meal ..

or returned to their quarters where Mama and the little ones were waiting

for them.

 

Many other missions crop up where military folks are called upon to support

other than military events. One went down in the late 80s .. the U.S.

Secretary of State decided to take a week vacation, between appointments in

the Middle East and Africa, at the 5 star resort " Altin Yunus " in Izmir,

Turkey. His directions were that he did not want to meet with or be

supported by any of the U.S. Embassy folks .. he wanted to relax, review his

notes and play tennis. The U.S. military got the mission to provide

security and as I was the only Military Police Officer assigned to the Joint

U.S. Military Mission for Aid to Turkey (now called Office of Defense

Cooperation) .. plus being a so-called " expert " on Turkey .. I was

tasked with heading up that security. I already had a job that took an

average of 70 hours a week to accomplish and that work would not go away ..

it would keep piling up. This mission began 2 weeks prior to his arrival ..

lots of detailed coordination with Turkish police and military .. arranging

patrols, over flight security, total sweeping of the grounds and review of

profiles of guests who had reservations, etc. Some support was provided by

a US Gummit " investigative " agency but still it was a monster of a task with

no room for failure. During his visit I put in an average of 18 hours a

day .. never even drank one beer because if things had gone badly I wanted

to be in a position to defend my actions. Things went well .. he left .. I

went back to my office to find work piled up and perhaps someone somewhere

received a note of thanks for our efforts .. but it was not sent to my

military headquarters. ;-)

 

Sometimes I sorta ramble .. huh? ;-)

 

There are many young folks who don't have the " what for " to become a good

soldier .. and they should not be faulted for this. Some even later

become good lawyers for the ACLU. ;-) But they will be faulted if they

don't recognize their aptitude and then learn the facts after they have put

on the uniform. For those who can cut the mustard and decide to make the

military a career they can expect long days and some tough times unless they

choose one of the specialties that will allow them to work in a controlled

environment .. like a hospital or communications center and such .. and even

these folks can count on deployments to short tour areas where family

members can't join them. They can count on going some days without seeing

a shower .. washing from a Jerry Can and a Steel Pot will become a luxury ..

they can count on cold rations sometimes eaten in pouring rain or in a snow

storm .. but they will not complain because all their buddies are in the

same boat. They can count on the probability (actually, certainty) of being

deployed to a Combat Zone a few times during their career. They can count

on the probability of not building up much equity in a home due to frequent

changes of assignment but they can also count on free medical and dental

care and in most cases (subject to budget cuts by Congress) they will find

the medical facilities to be outstanding. They can count on gaining an

inner strength that will amaze them .. they will learn how to be far more

than they ever thought they could be. And they will have the opportunity

to get a civilian education at no cost .. plus have a steady income when

they retire. That income will rarely be enough to live on and it will

never be what they truly deserve .. but its nice to get that check at the

beginning of every month.

 

After retirement they will have certain other benefits .. unless Congress

later decides to take them away. When I joined I was guaranteed free

medical and dental support for me and my dependents till death do us part ..

and though I had this support during my active duty service .. Congress

later took those benefits from my family .. put them on a Champus program

where we paid a part of the cost .. and after I retired I was no longer

authorized free dental care and had to pay a part of my medical care ..

though those DOS and contract civilians I mentioned above in Turkey had free

medical and dental care. When an armed forces service member retires now,

they and their dependents can choose between TriCare Prime, Extra or

Standard http://www.afwoa.org/news03JanTRICARE.html .. and though there are

some fees it is still a far better choice than civilian health insurance.

When that retired service member reaches age 65 .. and becomes eligible for

Medicare .. and purchases Medicare Parts A & B .. they become eligible for

TriCare for Life .. all and total coverage/treatment is free .. this can be

seen as a free Medicare Supplement policy.

 

Of course there is risk involved in participation in combat operations ..

but the odds of surviving a career in the military are better for most

youngsters than are the odds of surviving back on the block. They will

learn quickly that drugs and drinking and driving are not tolerated .. nor

are acts of negligence when it comes to safety. They will learn to be

responsible folks. There are many studies that support what I am saying and

these are NOT military sponsored statistics.

 

I was in the Kentucky National Guard but two weeks after I graduated from

high school, I decided to go Regular Army and left to report for duty on 1

July 1960 .. on 4 July 1960 the group of older youngsters I had been running

with went to Dunbar Cave, TN to celebrate the holiday .. they were drinking

beer .. and on the way home they missed a curve .. 4 of the 5 in the car

died at the scene. I could give many such examples for those I left behind

when I changed my life .. many died in ridiculous, preventable accidents.

Of the 36 folks in my high school graduation class .. one died at a train

crossing .. 2 in automobile accidents .. one in a farm accident .. and one

was electrocuted while putting up an antenna .. roughly a 14% + casualty

rate .. and for no reason except carelessness. Two of the 36 folks chose

the military .. one the CIA and one the Naval Criminal Investigative Service

... the two military folks served multiple tours in Vietnam .. in a combat

role .. the two others performed similar duties that put them in harm's

way. The last 4 mentioned here (over 10% of the total) all retired from

their respective services.

 

With all of my heart and soul I SALUTE all the young men and women who have

chosen to wear the proud uniform of one of the Armed Forces (not just

American forces) .. as well as their family members who also have a tough

job .. waiting is often tougher than being deployed with your buddies. I am

sure that I'm preaching to the choir .. because it is a norm for those who

have family members who volunteered to wear the uniform to support their

loved one's decision. Those family members are a part of the Team .. the

waiting is tough but they must tough it out. I believe that my military

service was harder on my Mother than it was on me .. and though she knew

absolutely nothing about politics .. she was always among the first to jump

up if anyone slammed the military.

 

Like my mother was, NOTHING can get me riled up or make me forget that I am

a gentleman .. quicker than hearing someone bad mouth our Armed Forces.

When that happens somebody is gonna get their butt kicked .. it might be me

but if it is then I will at least have been able to inconvenience the other

feller .. and considering that I am 65 years old, odds are that any opponent

I face will be younger than I am. If I lose the battle there is no shame ..

if he loses its a double shame for him. ;-)

 

 

We must support our Service Members .. matters not what we think of the

politicians and their decisions. I have always believed .. and continue to

believe .. that politicians in general eat excrement and howl at the moon.

But service members do not get to vote on which hostile actions they support

or do not support .. and many is the man and woman who has not forgotten ..

will likely never forget .. the hostile welcome we received when we returned

from Vietnam. I had not been in the airport bar in San Francisco more than

15 minutes before I had a knock down and drag out with some long hair dudes

who were insulting me .. and even those I left on the block were not all

that friendly .. shame on a portion of an entire American generation!

 

Though I am a conservative feller I am not a neo-con or a supporter of all

of George Bush's decisions .. and I believe that we are all in serious

doodoo now because we have no good options .. Democratic or Republican ..

in the upcoming presidential election. We are gonna be back at the point

of having to try to choose the best of the worst .. the most honest of the

dishonest .. the most serious of the clowns.

 

I personally believe (now) that we should not have gone into Iraq but we are

in Iraq and we will make matters worse if we turn tail and run now .. the

battleground will just change geographic location. But we must be much

tougher in our demands of the corrupt Iraqi gummit and the many Islamic

regimes in the area who cower in fear of their own populations .. and we

must find a way for an honorable and orderly withdrawal of American troops

from Iraq and then provide the best care for our wounded service members

after they return. **

 

The only U.S. Gummit entity that has lower marks in the area of trust than

the Executive Branch is the Congress .. they have become totally polarized

... they see their mission as not being one that is in the best interests of

the citizens of the U.S.A. but rather as one of slinging mud at the

opposition and throwing a monkey wrench in any mechanism created by the

opposition. I keep in touch with my Turkish military and political

contacts .. and I just got off the phone with a buddy in Washington .. who

is a consultant on various projects .. I have learned that House Resolution

106 and now Senate version S-106, will go for a vote next week .. this

resolution is driven by the buying power of an extremely powerful and

wealthy lobby and it involves a historical event that is not even

universally agreed upon by historians and scholars who are members of the

nationalities/groups who were involved close to 100 years ago. ALL the

living Secretaries of State (Democrats and Republicans) have written

letters to the House and the Senate opposing the Resolution but certain

people are looking at how they can gain support from this lobby .. and slap

the faces of the opposing party .. by passing it .. it matters not if its in

the U.S. National interests. It pops up during election years but has

always been defeated .. this time I believe it will pass. The results will

be long term degradation in Turkish-American relations and it will have

certain negative implications for the security of Americans in some overseas

areas. The short term results will be that the idiotic elected officials

will be cutting off their own noses to spite their opposition's faces ..

because the route/pipeline/entry point for their grandstanding, self-serving

" fact finding missions " to Iraq and Afghanistan is through Incirlik Air Base

in Adana, Turkey. I would bet 10 to 1 that the Turks will not allow them to

use that base in the future .. and I would agree with the Turks for taking

such action!

 

The Founding Fathers .. are probably rolling over in their graves now.

Maybe we would all be a lot better off if Ted Kennedy were to give a bunch

of the Democrat and Republican lawmakers a ride home after the next cocktail

party.

 

> HTH,

> Cindy B.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch

 

 

>

> On 10/4/07, Brian Jacobs <jacobfam <jacobfam%40gmail.com>>

> wrote:

> >

> > Consider it done! But can you tell me how many stamps, or if special

> > stamps are required, to send a card to Iraq?

> >

> > BTW, my son also turned 21 in the service. We haven't seen him on his

> > birthday since he turned 18 but next month we'll be spending his 23rd

> with

> > him, in Seattle ) He just returned from a mission in the Arctic where

> he

> > was an officer aboard the polar icebreaker/research vessel USCGC Healy.

> He

> > counted 22 polar bears and a whole mess of ice....

> >

> > jaime,CA

>