LetterAgent

Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.

Status: LetterAgent is currently in private testing ahead of public launch. Everything on this page describes the service as it works today.

Home > Guides > Mailing letters to boot camp

How do I mail letters to someone in basic training?

Address the letter exactly as the recruit's welcome materials or first letter instruct: full legal name, trainee designation, company or platoon, and the training unit's street address on the base. Mail call usually happens once a day on training days, so expect a few extra days beyond normal transit. Keep letters frequent and upbeat; hold packages and food until after graduation.

LetterAgent can mail a letter to a base address just like any US address. The exact unit addressing comes from the recruit's instructions, which you supply when you describe the letter.

How do you address it?

Line	What goes there
Name	Full legal name, as the military has it
Trainee designation	The rank or trainee marker your branch uses (PVT, PFC, SR, AB, and so on)
Unit	Company, platoon, or division, exactly as instructed
Street address	The training battalion's street address on base
City, state, ZIP	The base's own city and ZIP code, not a nearby town

Follow the recruit's instructions letter for letter. Training units sort incoming mail by company and platoon, and a wrong unit line can send your letter on a detour across the base before it finds its way back. Always include a return address: training mailrooms return undeliverable mail, and without a return address it has nowhere to go. One more wrinkle: the address changes. The reception address from the first week is replaced by the company address once training starts, so use the newest address the recruit gives you.

What should you not send?

Food of any kind. Barracks rooms have no good way to store it, crumbs draw pests, and many units ban food packages outright. A care package of cookies can earn the whole platoon extra push-ups.
Anything that reads as contraband at a glance. If a drill instructor has to wonder what it is, it was a bad idea.
Glitter, confetti, or heavily scented inserts. They make a mess in shared spaces, and drill instructors notice. Assume mail call is public: anything embarrassing will be opened in front of the platoon.
Large packages unless the recruit specifically asks. Storage space is minimal and some units restrict parcels during training.
Bad news delivered bluntly. This isn't a postal rule, but a human one: recruits can't act on problems at home, so time difficult news for a phone call when you can, and keep letters encouraging.

When will the recruit actually get it?

Mail call happens on training days, usually once a day, when the drill instructor or company staff hands out the unit's sorted mail. Before that, your letter has to clear the base mail system and the unit mailroom, which adds a day or two beyond normal delivery time. The first week is the slowest of all: during reception and processing, recruits may not receive mail at all, so don't worry if your first letters seem to vanish into nothing. They usually surface once the recruit joins a training company. Write often anyway. In basic training, letters are the main morale supply, and a short note every few days beats one long letter a month.

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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.

Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com