Hello everyone! 

I'm new to this and I want to say thank you for all of the educational posts about shipping!  I've learned a great deal and already set up an account with the USPS so that I can order my supplies online.

I took my very first package to the PO today only to come back home with it.  I wrote the address out like I should have, but I put the Any Soldier below the contact name.  The woman at the PO was very kind but said that I could not ship it with the words Any Soldier written anywhere on the package... But, this website instructed me to do so...

So now what do I do?  I was going to ship it with just the contact's name and address, but I didn't want to do that until I had posted something here about doing that.  Has anyone had this problem with their PO?  Should I ship it with the words "Any Soldier" on it??

 I really want to make sure that I can send the packages soon!

Thank you very much in advance for helping this newbie out!

Amy

I'm still new too but I guess I've just been lucky with the folks at the Eagle Lake Post Office. I've never had a problem addressing it exactly as written.  I even had a plan if I encountered resistance:  I was going to add the word "program" after "attn:  any soldier"...

You might want to print out the post about the regulations and take it with you when you go back.  Or just find another office and/or clerk.

Good luck!

Your post office person was mistaken. You can draw a line through AnySoldier and mail it. If there is another post office near you, try it. If you go to 20 different post offices, you will get 20 different intrepretations of the rules.

Thank you very much for your reply.  I have been scouring the site half the night and I found this good bit of advice just before I saw your post. 

I will definitely try that and see if it works!    Thanks again for the help!

Thanks for the advice! :)

Try placing "Any Soldier" in the return address. I have heard this works if the contact person knows to look for it. I don't put it on the outside at all, but reference it in an enclosed letter. I do it this way because the boxes I send are for distribution for the entire unit as needed. I sometimes include smaller boxes for individuals who don't get mail or for special occasions. As an example, I found soap bars manufactured to look like different rocks and gemstones. I gift wrap one that matches the month I'm sending the box, attach a b-day card and write "To AnySoldier Female (month) Birthday".

 Hope this helps.

 Tuck

I've had a few problems like that. If it's just letters hand it pre stamped and upside down to the PO worker and they'll just toss it in the bin (usually). If you can put as many things as possible in those big orange business envelopes, that's what I do (it's sometimes really hard to find them though) and it looks less tempting than a box. But if you have to use a box just draw a line through it of do what I do if you already know that the PO will give you a hard time. Under the contacts name put a line of white out it'll look like you messed up writing something to the PO but the soldier will understand. I had to do this because the PO worker rejected the letter even though I drew a line through attn: any soldier.

Once I loaded down 2 big orange envelopes and sent them out a day apart. Unfortunately I forgot that I put tooth paste in one and tooth brushes in the other. Naturally they got the tooth paste first and were probably pretty confused but the next day they got the tooth brushes.

I wanted to spread the word that Marty said just this week in another thread that we "are" obligated to write the Any Soldier in the second line of the address just as we receive the address from them.  I suggest that if the postal clerk doesn't want to accept the mail, that they talk to a senior person at the PO and ask for the regulation saying that it can't be in the address.  The regulation says that the address must contain either a person's name, title, or rank.  It doesn't say that Any Soldier can't be added within the address.

Gran

The woman at the PO was very kind but said that I could not ship it with the words Any Soldier written anywhere on the package..

I've been sending to contacts from anysoldier for over a year, and anywhere from a few a week to a month..  three diff post offices, never had any problem with the address..  agree with the other poster, ask for supervisor, or postmaster.. 

hope things have worked out !

 I use 3 different post offices in my city on occasion and have not had a problem. (In fact the clerk today was one I see a lot and she was really friendly. She even wanted to take my name to put me in for some kind of good deed contest that she knew about.)

Maybe this helps - I indent the attention line a bit a make it a little smaller. Example below:

JOE SAMPLE

      attn: anysoldier

ADDRESS

APO -------

This is from the "how to send" part of this website:

 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."

 I would suggest (a) trying another clerk (b) trying another post office. The person you spoke to is confused.

 The one time I had a clerk who said "I don't think you can do this," I just said "I checked, and you cannot address items JUST to any soldier, but this one is going to a specific person." She said "OK" and that was the end of it.

 Good luck!

That's how I do it, too, KathrynM.  I've only had one clerk try to tell me I couldn't put Anysoldier on the address.  That was way back when I first started.  I explained to him that the package was addressed to a specific soldier and that Anysoldier was the name of the program through which I was working.  That seemed to make more sense to him.  He is actually former military himself and has been very helpful and encouraging since.

 Amy,

Here is how we do it.....(this is an example with a fake name/addy FYI)

TO:

SGT. Joe Smith

Attn: Any Soldier

3rd Battalion, RFD Operation

APO AE 09354

This way we are in compliance with needing to include the Any Soldier line.  By lightly crossing out the Any Soldier line, we keep the postal clerks happy, but it is still readable so the soldier receiving the package knows it is an Any Soldier package.  I always thought it was important to have the Any Soldier line included so that the soldier knew the source of the letter or package.

FROM:

Buckeye Sue

Any Soldier Supporter

123 Main Street

AnyCity AnyState 48975

USA

You might need to politely ask for a supervisor and ask that your package be processed and sent as you are not breaking any post office laws.

Best,