LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
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Address the letter to the service member by full name and rank, then the unit, then the APO, FPO, or DPO address with its US-style ZIP code. A plain letter needs no customs form and travels at domestic US postage, but never include deployment details, troop movements, or anything about operations. Get the address from the service member or their family, and copy it exactly.
US military mail uses the Military Postal System, and its addresses look like American domestic addresses even when the recipient is overseas. The city field is one of three codes: APO for Army and Air Force, FPO for Navy and Marines, and DPO for diplomatic posts. After that comes a two-letter state code that indicates the region, AE for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, AP for the Pacific, and AA for the Americas, followed by a ZIP code. The service member's full name, rank, and unit go on the first lines. Here is the shape of it:
| Line | What goes there | Example format |
|---|---|---|
| Line 1 | Rank, full name | SGT Jane Smith |
| Line 2 | Unit and box number | Unit 2050 Box 4190 |
| Line 3 | APO, FPO, or DPO, region code, ZIP | APO AE 09398 |
Copy the address character for character. A single wrong digit in the ZIP or box number can send the letter to a different unit, and military mail is not forwarded the way civilian mail is: if the member has moved units, the letter may be returned rather than chased after them. If you are unsure of any part, ask the member or a family member before you mail.
For a plain letter, no. Letters to APO, FPO, and DPO addresses travel at domestic US postage rates, and no customs declaration is required for ordinary correspondence. That is one of the main advantages of the military postal system: a letter to a base overseas costs the same to send as a letter across town. Packages are different, and they do need a customs form and a contents description, so if you are sending a care package rather than a letter, check the current package rules before you pack it.
Canadian service members posted abroad use a different system: mail goes through the Canadian Forces Postal Service to a CFPO address, or to a Canadian address the member provides. If you are writing to a Canadian soldier, ask for their CFPO address rather than guessing, since the routing differs from the American system.
Write about home: family news, sports, weather, the ordinary details of daily life. Those are the letters service members say they value most, because they are a break from duty. Avoid anything about operations: deployment dates, locations, troop movements, mission details, or equipment. Even if the member told you something in confidence, repeating it in a letter creates a paper record that could be read by others, and mail to deployed units can be subject to review. The safe rule is simple: if it could help someone figure out where a unit is or what it is doing, leave it out.
Also avoid sending anything that could embarrass the recipient if opened by someone else, and avoid including cash, gift cards with high values, or anything valuable in a plain letter. If you want to send money or a gift, use the proper channel for it rather than an envelope.
Yes, with one condition: the APO, FPO, or DPO address is a US address for postal purposes, so it fits LetterAgent's US recipient coverage. Describe the letter to your AI assistant, give the military address exactly as the member provided it, approve the exact quoted price, and it is printed and mailed. Delivery times to deployed units vary with transport schedules and security holds, so do not promise a recipient that a letter will arrive by a particular date.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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