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Anyone know shipping time to Iraq?

mcdmawmcdmaw
in Military Families

Hello All,

 

My brother is currently deployed in Iraq.  He was supposed to get leave around Christmas but that fell through--big surprise!  I want to send him his Christmas presents but he is supposed to get leave (hopefully) now in the middle-end of January.  

If I sent his presents on Monday, do you think he would get them?  Any experience or suggestions?  He is army, missile analyst (there is an acronym I always forget) if that makes a difference.

 Thanks in Advance! 

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Re: Anyone know shipping time to Iraq?

  • leslie13510leslie13510

    I'm not sure what it is these days, but I always planned at least 3-4 weeks around Christmas time when DH was there.  Mail volume and time increases tremendously around the holidays.

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  • mlatiolaismlatiolais

    If he is set to leave in January I'd be willing to bet that the stop mail date for his unit has already passed, or is about to. Meaning it would just be forwarded back to his home duty station and he wouldn't get it until his return. Even if the date hasn't passed I wouldn't expect it to make it to him by Christmas (assuming it made it at all without getting lost or stolen) with it being such a crazy time.

    I'm sorry he isn't going to be home in time, but maybe you can do like I'm doing and just keep his gifts wrapped for when he does get home!

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  • kass08kass08
    imageMlatch:

    If he is set to leave in January I'd be willing to bet that the stop mail date for his unit has already passed, or is about to. Meaning it would just be forwarded back to his home duty station and he wouldn't get it until his return. Even if the date hasn't passed I wouldn't expect it to make it to him by Christmas (assuming it made it at all without getting lost or stolen) with it being such a crazy time.

    I'm sorry he isn't going to be home in time, but maybe you can do like I'm doing and just keep his gifts wrapped for when he does get home!

    I'm pretty sure she meant R&R leave, not leaving for good. 

    OP - If you sent it Monday, it may make it in time but I wouldn't get your hopes up.  Like PP said, there's a ton of mail this time of  year and it can take 4 weeks or so to get mail. 

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  • bootsie08bootsie08

    The USPS has Christmas shipping deadlines on their website.  Just keep in mind that the chart does not include any delays in customs (though they are actually pretty rare for APO/FPO addresses).

    https://www.usps.com/holiday/shippingcalendar.htm

    I've actually been shocked at how quickly DH has received mail this deployment.  Average time has been less than 2 weeks. 

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  • newguardwifenewguardwife member
    My husband was there over christmas in '07 and then it took 2 weeks even around Christmas, but he was based at a major installation and I think that helped a lot. I sent it by the deadline on usps.com and he got it 10 before christmas and got very mad because he opened all his presents right away
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  • Roundrockgal79Roundrockgal79

    It's going to depend on where he is and if he's regularly with his unit or not. When my DH was deployed last year he was in a completely different area than his unit for 95% of the deployment. They NEVER sent him his mail regularly even if people from his unit were coming out to see him and the 2 other guys that were with him. Someone actually said something to him at one point about how his boxes were taking up space because he had 5 or 6 there. His response was along the lines of if you'd deliver my mail on a regular basis when you come out here and not every 2-3 months that wouldn't really be an issue...but in a not so nice manner.

    My DH came home 2 weeks after Christmas last year and we'd decorated the house and did our gifts then. I even waited to open everything he'd bought for me even though he'd ordered stuff for me that I had started receiving way back in Sept/Oct.

    Anyhow, I'd personally save the presents for when your brother is home on leave. You could even plan a big Christmas in January kind of family get together or something. FWIW, when he was in the same camp as his unit he usually received boxes around 2-3 weeks from the time I sent them so I wouldn't send it any later than this Monday.

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  • HighA7HighA7
    Honestly, it's really a shot in the dark. When DH was deployed, there were some packages he would get in 3-4 weeks and sometimes it would take months. He would also get packages out of order (meaning I would send one and then a few weeks later send another one and he would get the second one before the first one). And I had sent them a package the first weekend of February and by the time they left in June, he still hadn't gotten it (and insuring packages does NOTHING because once it is "delivered" to the military, the USPS considers it delivered and they are no longer responsible for it)
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  • hesherherohesherhero member
    My DH is in Japan. The lady at the post office told me that if I sent my priority box before the 10th that it would make it there in time for Christmas. They are encouraging that you send  it out sooner than later. Plus, it's not always USPS that is the problem they don't make it there in time. Sometimes it's the Military. :/
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  • mlatiolaismlatiolais
    imagebuckeyebabe08:
    imageMlatch:

    If he is set to leave in January I'd be willing to bet that the stop mail date for his unit has already passed, or is about to. Meaning it would just be forwarded back to his home duty station and he wouldn't get it until his return. Even if the date hasn't passed I wouldn't expect it to make it to him by Christmas (assuming it made it at all without getting lost or stolen) with it being such a crazy time.

    I'm sorry he isn't going to be home in time, but maybe you can do like I'm doing and just keep his gifts wrapped for when he does get home!

    I'm pretty sure she meant R&R leave, not leaving for good. 

    OP - If you sent it Monday, it may make it in time but I wouldn't get your hopes up.  Like PP said, there's a ton of mail this time of  year and it can take 4 weeks or so to get mail. 

    Duh! lol I guess I just read through that really fast and absent minded. lol

    I still say its a shot in the dark, and if it were me I'd just hold off and let him open his gifts at home. We are having Christmas in January for when DH comes home.

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  • maiziejengamaiziejenga
    The USPS website it a good gauge, but APO mail goes in on military transports, so it depends on how much room they have on the planes.  Major installations will get mail fast and regularly.  If he's at a place whose name starts with FOB or Combat Outpost, the mail will be much less regular.
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