The postal service will stop accepting mail addressed to servicemembers in Iraq Nov. 17. That means if you have a loved one stationed there who will be redeployed by the end of year pull-out deadline, don’t send them anything after Nov. 16 or it will be "returned to sender." Servicemembers there also will not be able to mail anything out after that date.
That deadline should still give family members time to get Thanksgiving themed or early holiday packages out to loved ones. Since hopefully most of the servicemembers will be home by Christmas (just a few days from the final pull-out deadline) and holiday packages won’t be as big of a deal this year as they have in the past.
Some servicemembers assigned to the Office of Security Cooperation or the Chief of Mission in Iraq are staying in Iraq after the pull-out deadline. For those folks mail will be processed under new addresses through the State Department and they will have to coordinate with those offices to find out what their address will be after Nov. 17.
For those of us with loved ones still in The Sandbox this does create a bit of a headache – but it also means we are one step closer to them actually getting out of there. And each step is a good thing.
You can read all the details about the new mail rules here.
