Mailing to U.S. military abroad from Germany

A friend of mine from home is stationed in Afganistan, and has given me the APO address for how to reach him. Does anyone know if German post offices will recognize this? If not, what other information do I need to add? Any idea on the cost of mailing a letter through this system from Germany? Thanks.

When mailing to British Forces, I just gave the full address then added UK at the bottom.

The BFPO (British Force Post Office) then dealt with it, and it got all the way to Iraq no problemo.

Most likely the APOs within Germany will take care of it here.

@BSF...if for some reason the Germans won't take it, and you can get it to me here in Garmisch I can mail it for you.

-kit

APO addresses are known to DPAG, and all other countries with a US Military presents.. All mail from the german public going to an APO address is delivered by DPAG to the Military Airmail/sorting terminal in Frankfurt. From there it is either put on a plane for delivery faraway, or a truck for delivery to any of the bases in germany.

Sidenote: Miliitary members can also use US stamps (and postal rates)
to send letters/packages to the german system. So while we pay .55-1.10 Eur, they pay .40-.55 cents..

yeah, prob like BFPO, where if it's got BFPO on it it'll get sent straight to Mill Hill, then distributed to whatever station it is. German post offices recognise BFPO

I am interested in establishing contact with either a press secretary or the local commander of the US military facility (Corps of Engineering) located close to Sindelfingen-Böblingen near Stuttgart in Baden Wuerttemberg. My search on the net wasn't really successful. Is there someone here on TT who could guide me or should I consult the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum or is there an open directory somewhere ? All I need are the contact details of a spokesperson currently in charge to send out a formal letter or make an appointment with for a dialogue with the local people on an issue affecting them (I am afraid giving details on a public forum at this stage would be a little premature). Thanks for any help !

The closest and biggest US Military base near Sindelfingen-Böblingen is Panzer Kaserne
in Boeblingen which is home to various Special Ops Units of the various services.
It also falls under the command of US European Command based at Patch Barracks in Vaihingen.

Contact the Public Affairs office at:

Navy Capt. Jeffery Gradeck
Address: HQ USEUCOM/ECPA, Unit 30400, APO AE 09131
Phone: +49-(0)711-680-8574
Fax: +49-(0)711-680-5380

There are "Open Directories" and many websites that have info. on US Military in Germany. Google and you will find them.

Official US Army Homepage
Portal Germany
US Army Stuttgart
US European Command
Global Security

Thanks a ton, DarkKnight! You made my day - we were planning to drive to the Panzer Kaserne but now we will drive to the Bodensee instead - kurz ausflug, you know.

Have a nice Sunday.

You can drive there if you want, but don't I don't think you'll get more than the standard "Go away" from
the front gate unless you have prior arrangements to have somebody meet and sign you in. Also the
best place to start contact is with the bases HQ, in this case thats Patch Barricks and the PA guy mentioned above.

Sweetypie, here's the link for the Public Affairs office on Stuttgart Kaserne. The phone number is different than the one that's been given you by DK. I would start here if I were you. You can also email PA as there is a link for email. I was curious as I was surprised to see a Naval Officer in charge of PA on a Army post, but this could happen. This Naval Officer is probably in charge of Public Affairs for the entire command of the United States Army in Europe as the European command is headquartered in Stuttgart. I agree with DK, don't expect to get onto Panzer Kaserne you are wasting your time going there. To get onto the post you have to be accompanied by someone who has kaserne access priviledges and this person will sign you in. http://www.stuttgart.army.mil/sites/installation/pao.asp

EUCOM is a Unified Combatant Command (Mix of all four services)

So Having a USN officer as PA is very possible.

The Commanding General is Army.
The Deputy commander is Navy.
The Chief of staff is Marine
The Senior Enlisted Leader is Army

LR's Link is for the "US Army Stuttgart" PA officer, this is for all US bases in the area. The one I provided
is for the PA Officer for EUCOM, which is the major tenant Org. for both Patch and Panzer Kaserne, the base SP requested info. for.

@LR: Thank you. The link you provided turned out to be a part of the link provided by DK - so all's well.

Have been trying but keep getting only recorded msgs. asking me to leave a msg. Hope there is someone who actually takes calls - so will continue to try later. Must rush now.