I recently signed up for the My Soldier program and sent off a 5-pound package to Iraq or other military destinations unknown.
How long, approximately, will it take for a soldier to receive the package? It was sent US Priority Mail, the preferred method according to My Soldier. Will the package take several weeks? A month? What about a letter sent first class?
Any military families or military servicepeople who can let me know? If it matters, I sent this package on January 4.
Mrs. Furthur
Hi. I m active with a soldier support website (booksforsoldiers.com, I have mentioned them recently in another thread but I’m not hyped on plugging them I swear!) IME Delivery is very variable, depending on exactly what your soldier does (for example, forward deployed in Iraq takes longer than stationed in Kuwait) and on luck.
ALL military mail (what your package is once it arrives at a military processing station in the US) is “Space Available Mail” – the equivalent to Media Mail or Fourth Class when inside the US Mail system. That means if they have room, it goes on a transport. This could take a day, a week, six weeks, or six months (I doubt the latter happens too often though!). For this reason the Army suggests packages about the size of a shoebox will have the best chance of arriving expeditiously (boy I’ve been waiting for a chance to use that word).
The Priority designation only applies to your packages’ trip within the US to its nearest Military processing station (APO AE = NYC, APO AP & FPO = California someplace). When possible, the Military mail will attempt to prioritize Priority mail packages, but there aren’t many guarantees when it comes to Military mail. All this also applies to letters, but as they take up less space they tend to arrive faster.
Because of the “space available” situation, smaller packages have a better chance of arriving (relatively) swiftly than large one. I pack US Priority Flat Rate enveleopes to the gills (record is about 3 lbs) and they generally take about 2 weeks to various Forward Operating Bases in Iraq. One package I sent to Afganistan took about 4 weeks, or at least that’s my best estimate.
Also, supply convoys are a favorite target so there’s certainly a chance your package will get blown up without reaching it’s destination. Not to dishearten you but just FYI.
It’s nice of you to contribute like this! It will really make someone’s day.
Thanks for the heads-up on the booksforsoldiers site! I printed off the volunteer form and plan to give it a try. As an avid reader, I’ve got lots of books I could send.
Mrs. Furthur
Our American Legion is exploring this option.