THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190754
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The mail is going through to U.S. troops deployed in the Balkans, the Pentagon asserted Thursday, and officials encouraged Americans to send more.
More than 200,000 pounds of letters and packages already have made their way to the American peacekeepers in the Balkans, Army Col. Earl Simms, who is in charge of the delivery program, told reporters.
Under ``normal conditions,'' troops will get mail eight to 10 days after it's sent from the United States, Simms said, and return letters should get back in about the same time.
The cost of sending a letter is 32 cents, the same as the Postal Service charges for domestic deliveries, he said. Deployed forces can send return mail weighing up to 11 ounces at no charge.
Simms announced a series of zip codes the military has put into place for the deployed forces. Mail sent from the United States is routed through New York to Frankfurt, Germany, where it is divided by unit and shipped on to Bosnia, Croatia and Hungary. The latter country is serving as a staging area for the deployed forces.
To send mail to specific troops, writers will need their deployed unit designation, along with the appropriate zip code. The military has established an 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. toll-free phone line, 1-800-810-6098, to verify zip codes and answer questions about restrictions on what can be mailed.
Prohibited items include cash, precious metals, alcoholic beverages, firearms and ammunition.
Simms said the services are accepting packages weighing up to 70 pounds. But to ease the burden of handling the mail, the military is asking shippers to keep their packages to the size of a shoebox, or smaller.
Simms also announced that the services are reactivating a program, which proved popular during the Persian Gulf War, that lets folks at home direct letters to ``Any Service member.'' Letters sent that way are divided among all the troops, so that everyone receives at least some mail.
During February, the military will join in ``Operation Valentine,'' an effort sponsored by ``No Greater Love,'' a Washington-based humanitarian group. The group encourages school children to send Valentine's Day cards to the ``heroes for peace'' deployed in Bosnia. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
TO SEND MAIL
Letters and packages for specific troops should be addressed like
this:
Grade/rank and full name
Deployed unit designation
Operation Joint Endeavor
APO AE 097xx (the xx's shown here should be replaced with the
appropriate digits for the member's ZIP code)
ZIP codes for deployed forces:
09779 Zagreb, Croatia
09780 Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
09781 Split and Ploche, Croatia
09782 Kiseljac, Bosnia-Herzegovina
09788 Air Force in U.S. Sector of Bosnia
09789 Army in U.S. Sector of Bosnia
09793 Army in Hungary
09794 Air Force in Hungary
Address for ``Any Service member'' letters:
For all land forces
Any Service Member
Operation Joint Endeavor
APO AE 09397
For Navy and Marine Corps members aboard ships:
Any Service Member
Operation Joint Endeavor
FPO AE 09398
Addresses for Operation Valentine:
For all land forces
No Greater Love
c/o Operation Joint Endeavor
APO AE 99391
For Navy and Marine personnel on ships:
No Greater Love
c/o Operation Joint Endeavor
FPO AE 09392
by CNB