I have to send a package to someone who is apparently serving in the military who has given me the address APO AE 09330. The address comes up somewhere off the west coast of Africa.
Where is this place and how does postage work for packages to an American serving overseas in the military?
Thanks!
Postage as if it were in the US. It enters a military postal system on the east coast for AE. First class and priority mail are flown. Lower postal categories sometimes go by ship making a difference in arrival of weeks.
AE is the “state code” for Army Post Office areas in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Exactly where in the world 09330 is, I dunno – military post offices tend to move around with the military itself.
APO stands for Army Post Office. You pay a standard domestic mail rate from your location to the APO point in the US (either New York or San Francisco). Once your mail/package enters the APO system, the military takes it from there, wherever the final destination may be in the world. There are no additional charges.
Whatever you do, do not pay for Express Mail, Priority Mail or anything fast. Express/Priority Mail means your mail will only travel express to New York or San Francisco, then travel the military system at one single speed, … whenever it gets there.
It appears to be currently located in Kuwait.
Camp DOHA, Kuwait
APO AE 09330
Although you get to send the stuff to APO/FPO addresses using domestic rates, you still have to put the customs forms on it. Depending on where the unit is deployed to, the Status of Forces Act (quaintly known as SOFA) between the United States and that “wherever” may limit what can be sent (limited as to value, weight, or even the item itself) to that place.
Something I learned recently about Google Maps is that if it cannot determine where the location is, it will show as Latitude 0 and Longitude 0, which is (guess where) off the west coast of Africa.
Kuwait. Could be Doha, or could be Beuhring, or Udairi. Possibly other camps in the area. But it is definitely Kuwait. If you fill out your address labels electronically, use APO as the city, and AE as the state. The price should be whatever it costs to send that item to New Jersey. The packages go Space-A, so if the package is oddly shaped or huge, it will take longer to get there. Smaller, square-ier boxes and envelopes travel faster.
to counter duckster, my wife is in Iraq, I pay first class to mail a letter or package it gets there in maybe about a month, flat rate boxes are the way to(takes two weeks to get a flat rate box to baghdad and in her hands). Military mail is in two classes, military(official) and personal. personal is run by the military for the USPS under USPS rules and regulations.
Yeah… I still send everything Priority Mail just the same. I figure if nothing else, that means it gets across the US faster, which is a great idea if you are shipping anything high-value that might be subject to theft by gremlins or whatever while sitting around in warehouses waiting for a truck to have some free space in it.
EDIT: If you decide to send them something, try not to send chocolate. It tends to become a gooshy mess when spending hours or days or longer in three-digit temperatures. Of course, if the recipient likes his chocolate to be a gooshy mess, I guess this becomes win/win. Just make sure it’s sealed in plastic inside the box. 
I can’t speak to the law, but I was standing in line at the local USPS office and a guy ahead of me wanted to send a package to an APO/FPO address and had already filled out the customs form, and the postal clerk said that it wasn’t required and either threw it away themself, or the customer removed it.
GAAAH! Priority Mail isn’t faster! It’s not an express service! IT’S EXACTLY THE SAME AS FIRST CLASS, only for packages!
According to the official USPS website, yes, you do have to fill out customs forms for international mail going to APO/FPO addresses.
I spend about $1500 a month with the post office for shipping and have found Priority Mail is a tidge faster than first class mail. I suspect it’s because first class mail will be aggregated to fill a bin at sort centers and may end up staying an extra day if the bin isn’t full, yet with amazing consistency I get boxes to the east coast in 2 days from LA.
On an unrelated note, I have found that mail sent out to me from stateside tends to get here in days. Mail sent from me to stateside tends to take weeks. I can only assume it piles up in a warehouse while some airman or soldier idly clicks on Facebook wishing his tour would finish faster. (Or, more likely, they are waiting for prescheduled transport to depart, etc.)