Is this permitted by the military?

[TheWraith]

I got an email forward encouraging everyone to, when doing their Christmas cards, send one addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier," c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW.

Problem is, don't I recall something to the effect that the military decided to no longer allow mail to be sent to any random soldier? That instead it needs to be sent to a specific person? Or is this just for active duty troops?

[walldude]

1. Yes that's just for stuff going out of the country. I got this same e-mail

and I checked it out with the army. Send the letter. Someone will get it.

[LynnTheDem]

2. All packages sent outside the USA to troops must be to a specific soldier.

Your Recovering Soldier cards are ok and good.

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Can you add your address for them to be able to write back?

or is there a pen pal site to write to troops?

[benddem]

4. NO

Walter Reed is overwhelmed with mail. They just pitch those. Check out snopes and send that to the person who sent it to you.

[elocs]

5. If you want to send anything to our soldiers, check out this site:

http://www.anysoldier.com/

There is lots of good and specific info here and the site tells you what to do and how to do it.

How this works:

We have volunteer Soldier "contacts" on the "Where to Send" page. Click through the names and select the one(s) you wish to support. They list what the folks they represent want and need. We even have a search capability so you can easily identify what the troops need most.

All the Soldiers involved in this effort are military volunteers stationed in areas that are in harm's way. You send your support (letters and/or packages) addressed to them and when they see the "Attn: Any Soldier®" line in their address they put your letters and packages into the hands of Soldiers who don't get much or any mail first. Everything is shared.

We have "What to Send", "How to Send" and "FAQ" pages to help you properly send letters and packages, please read these. Be sure to also read our "New & Stuff" and "Success Stories" pages. This effort is 110% voluntary. You send your support, and maybe some stuff, directly to whatever unit or units you want, you don't send us anything.

We have a video you may watch free online, "Tango Mike!" which is a great overview of how the site works. The video is available for purchase HERE.

PLEASE read the entire web site before you send anything.
We want you to be informed and comfortable with this effort.

Thank you for your support!

[TheWraith]

6. I've been there, it's pretty good.

But I was specifically wondering if I should warn people I know off from the Christmas card route. Unfortunately, I've got conflicting answers.

[elocs]

7. From the AnySoldier.com site faqs:

http://anysoldier.com/FAQ.cfm

"Isn't it illegal to send mail to Any Soldier"?

No, it is not illegal, it simply won't go anywhere, the postal service just won't accept the package.
This is not the postal service's fault, they won't have anybody to give it to as the DOD won't support the program.
This is very understandable if you think about it. Here is a APO guy with a zillion packages and he has NO idea what to do with them.

However, that is not what we are doing here.
With our effort you address a letter or package to a full and complete address with the addition of an attention line. That line tells the Soldier that the package is to be handled in accordance with our effort.

There is no USPS regulation concerning "Any Soldier", however there is a DOD Postal Manual (DOD 4525.6-M) Issue #22093 dated 9 January 2003, which states, "a. Mail addressed to "Any Service Member," or similar wording such as "Any Soldier," "Sailor," "Airman," or "Marine"; "Military Mail", etc., is prohibited. Mail must be addressed to an individual or job title such as "Commander," "Commanding Officer," etc."
Good luck finding this version of this manual...

Some postal clerks are confused by this so we suggest to avoid any arguments you simply draw a line through the attention line. The Soldier will see this and appreciate your valor at the post office and he/she will still know what to do.

We don't advocate getting into an argument with anyone.