What is an FPO Address?

Posted by Troopster on Aug 30th 2024

FPO Addresses and Troopster

For anyone who knows friends and family serving in the military, you’ve likely heard people throw around the term “FPO address” at one time or another. But what is it? Is it a normal address, or something different? Let Troopster help! We’re a veteran-owned business that provides friends and families a convenient way to buy, personalize, and ship care packages, all from the comfort of your own home! As such, we live and breathe military mail and can answer all your questions about FPO addresses. And, to start, the FPO in FPO address stands for “Fleet Post Office,” and it is used to ship letters and packages to Navy installations. Here are some awesome options for sending goodies to loved ones at an FPO address:

Were You Given an FPO Address but Don’t Know What it Means?

You’re not alone. We receive tons of feedback from people saying they have no idea what this whole FPO address thing is. So, we know that when it’s your first time dealing with an FPO address, actually sending a care package can seem like a daunting task. To help clarify the process, we’ve outlined a line-by-line example of an FPO address below, showing how FPO addresses correspond to the standard address system we all use on a daily basis.

FPO Address Line 1

Seaman John Paul Jones

USS Bonhomme Richard

Unit 1776, Box 0704

FPO AA 12345-6789

This first line of the FPO address is the same as a normal address. Include the name of your service member. If you want, you may include rank, but it’s not required.

FPO Address Line 2

Seaman John Paul Jones

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)

Unit 1776, Box 0704

FPO AA 12345-6789

For Sailors and Marines serving aboard US vessels, the second line in the FPO address is where you enter the name and hull number of the ship. This line corresponds to a street address in our normal mail.

FPO Address Line 3

Seaman John Paul Jones

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)

Unit 1776, Box 0704

FPO AA 12345-6789

You won’t always see this third line included in an FPO address. Sometimes, the address won’t include more than the ship’s name and hull number. However, if the third line is included, it is the loose equivalent of an apartment number following the actual street address in normal mail. The first part of the line, “Unit,” lets you know the type of address it is and can include a variety of different abbreviations (PSC, CMR, UMR, and RPO, among others). Next, the number after “Unit” in our example represents the specific number of this particular address type.

In the above example, “Box 0704” is the recipient’s military PO box number, but not every FPO address has one of these.

FPO Address Line 4

Seaman John Paul Jones

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)

Unit 1776, Box 0704

FPO AA 12345-6789

Though not exactly the same, the final line of the above FPO address loosely corresponds to the city, state, and zip code of a typical address. The “FPO” here stands for Fleet Post Office, and it takes the place of a city. The next item, “AA,” stands for Armed Forces Americas, and this is your state for FPO addresses (you’ll also have FPO addresses with AE and AP in this spot, depending on where your troop’s installation is located). For the zip code, FPO addresses and your standard address format are the same. Lastly, if prompted to select a country when shipping to an FPO address, always select the United States, no matter where the mail is actually going. USPS handles the sorting of military mail going overseas.

What Restrictions Exist for Shipping to an FPO Address?

A lot. When you’re shipping to an FPO address, you have to follow both USPS rules and international customs requirements. On the USPS side, this includes limitations on both size and weight of packages. And, on the international side, regardless of the fact that military mail is treated like domestic mail by USPS, shipping to FPO addresses still requires compliance with the destination country’s customs requirements and restrictions. Due to this fact, any shipment to an FPO address requires completion of a customs form.

How Does Troopster Handles These FPO Address Issues?

The veterans who operate Troopster have spent seemingly endless hours digging through both USPS and specific country restrictions so you don’t need to. When you buy or donate a Troopster care package, just worry about uploading some great photos from home, adding a nice note, and we’ll handle the headache of shipping to an FPO address for you!