With the redeployment of troops from Iraq by the end of the year, the U.S. Postal Service will stop accepting mail addressed to military post offices in Iraq starting Nov. 17, Defense Department officials said on Friday.
Service members there should begin now to advise those who send them mail about the Nov. 17 deadline. Save those care packages and put them under the tree. Even if it is early January, it will be a Happy New Year come 2012 for many Fort Bragg families.
Don’t worry, parents who are not up on email or Facebook to get this news, all mail still in the postal system through Nov. 17 will be processed and delivered to the service members in Iraq.
In November, U.S. military postal service responsibilities in Iraq will transition to State Department embassy or consulate post offices for service members assigned to Office of Security Cooperation or the Chief of Mission in Iraq.
ZIP codes for Iraq military post offices will soon be deleted from the USPS database, but the redirected mail will be forwarded to the newly provided mailing address or returned to sender.
Service members who are remaining in Iraq after Nov. 17 and who are there on behalf of or are assigned to the Office of Security Cooperation or the Chief of Mission in Iraq should coordinate with their chain of command and the servicing State Department mail location to receive a new mailing address.
December 25, 2011 Mail Deadlines
For those contractors transitioning to Iraq based jobs or those based in Afghanistan, deadlines to ensure arrival by Dec. 25 are Nov. 12 for parcel post mail; Nov. 26 for space-available mail; Dec. 3 for parcel airlift mail; Dec. 10 for priority mail and first-class mail, letters and cards; and Dec. 17 for express mail military service.
“Express Mail Military Service is not available for holiday packages and mail going to Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Faye Slater, the deputy director of the Military Postal Service Agency in an Army News Service report.
Mail is moved on commercial and military aircraft and commercial sealift vessels to nearly 2,000 military post offices located in over 85 countries.
See also here: http://www.stripes.com/news/date-set-for-military-post-office-closures-in-iraq-1.158957
