MAIN-SIDE POST OFFICE BLDG. 610

*** Post Office Box Check In/Out Times: Mon-Fri 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

NORTHSIDE POST OFFICE BLDG. 1340

*** Post Office Box Check In/Out Times: Mon-Fri 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Eligible personnel

• All personnel on accompanied tours (regardless of parent unit)

• All Department of Defense (DoD) civilian employees

• All personnel assigned to the Branch Health Clinic and Dental Clinic

• Unaccompanied personnel assigned to H&HS, CLC-36, MAG-12, VMFA (AW)-242, VMFA-121, VMGR-152, MALS-12, MACS-4 Det B and MWSS-171. Note: Unaccompanied personnel attached to the following Navy Squadrons will not be assigned a personal mail box and will receive their mail through their unit mail room: CVW-5, VFA-27, VFA-102, VFA-115, VFA-195, VAQ-141, VAW-125 and VRC-30 Det 5.

Procedures to obtain a mailbox

Population growth at MCAS Iwakuni has required a careful consideration of mailbox assignment in order to prevent the lack of receptacles available to authorized patrons.

• Mailboxes will be assigned based on the patron’s housing assignment after arrival to the air station. Should the need arise, incoming patrons may use the following address prior to being assigned a permanent mailbox upon arrival to MCAS Iwakuni:
  First & Last Name
  PSC 561 General Delivery
  FPO AP 96310

  Note: Please email to IWKN_SMBIwakuniPos@usmc.mil with your name and estimated date of arrival if you will be utilizing the general delivery address. Please do not overburden the postal system to compensate for sending household goods. Utilize available DMO (Distribution Management Office) for shipping household goods.

• After receiving your housing assignment, please bring the following three documents to the post office (Building 610) in order to be assigned a mail box:

  1. Orders

  2. Area Clearance

  3. Housing assignment memorandum from housing (this determines which of the two post office locations your mail box will be assigned)

• Unaccompanied personnel eligible to receive a mail box will be assigned a box based on billeting location.

Important Note

Personal mail boxes are to be used exclusively for the receipt of personal mail for you and/or your family. Per currently existing postal regulations, they may not be used to receive mail pertaining to home businesses or similar profit making ventures; nor can they be used by any person other than the assigned box holder and their command sponsored family members.

The post office here provides the members of UDP squadron with efficient, full-service postal support. This page outlines important information pertaining to deploying Marines and sailors, as well as their family members who will remain behind in CONUS.

• To unit postal officers

• To service members of UDP squadrons

• Mailing restrictions during deployment

To unit postal officers:

General information:

• The unit postal officer needs to keep us well informed in writing of all off-station deployments involving either the entire squadron, or a small detachment from the squadron as far in advance as possible. The written mail routing requests can submitted to the Station Postal Officer, Attn: Operations Chief by hand to hand transfer mail or e-mail from either the unit postal officer or assistant officer. Always give as much advance notice as possible (2-4 weeks is ideal).

  • E-mail: iwkn_smbiwakunipos@usmc.mil

• As soon as possible after unit's arrival aboard MCAS Iwakuni, the unit postal officer and/or assistant unit postal officer is required to contact the Station Post Office (Bldg 610) to discuss the general issues pertaining to postal support for your unit (such as mail routing issues, mail call times, etc). At that time, we will also be able to answer any questions regarding postal support.

• Your mailroom will be inspected at least quarterly while aboard MCAS Iwakuni. We recommend you arrange for pre-deployment mail room inspection through your local serving Post Office prior to departing CONUS (Continental United States), to ensure your mail room/mail clerks are fully prepared for your deployment.

What you have to submit:

As soon as possible, please provide the following items to the post office, MCAS Iwakuni;

1. Copy of unit postal officer (and assistant) appointment letters.
2. Copy of unit official mail manager (and assistant) appointment letter.
3. One original DD Form 285 for each currently appointed unit mail clerk.
4. You are asked to stay in touch with us each time your unit relocates to a new deployed location throughout the West-Pac tour. We will need a telephone number in the event we need to contact you for any reason.

Note:

• Remind your squadron personnel not to modify their mailing address from what they were originally issued in CONUS, and never to adopt another unit's mailing address.
• When your unit redeploys to CONUS, you must plan to take (embark or hand carry) all equipment and supplies back with you, or ship them through the TMO, or other official channels. Sending large amounts of supplies and files (including the CMCC files) back to CONUS through the official mail system is extremely costly, and is not authorized. Since we are not funded to accommodate those types of very expensive and unnecessary mailings, it is important that you plan ahead and make every effort to embark all your gear back with you. Please disseminate this policy to all who may have a need to know.
• While in West-Pac, all personnel are advised to avoid sending anything of value through the Intra-theater Delivery Service (more commonly known as free "MPS Mail"). Although this free delivery service is available throughout West-Pac (except Guam & Hawaii), personnel should be aware that they cannot file an indemnity claim for the loss of or damage to their "MPS mail" or its contents. Sending items of value through normal postal channels (with an appropriate amount of postal insurance) is always advisable.

To service members of UDP squadrons:

FPO AP address

• Use of the proper address content and format is essential for efficient, problem free mail service while deployed overseas. Prior to your deployment, your home station's Military Post Office will issue your unit an FPO Mailing Address for use throughout the deployment. It is very important that you and your correspondents use this mailing address exactly as it is given to you, and resist the temptation to modify it in any manner. Never include geographical locations (such as Iwakuni Japan) in your mailing address, as doing so may cause misrouting problems or result in your stateside correspondents being charged much higher International postage rates unnecessarily. It is highly recommended that you inform all of your personal correspondents of this.
• During your deployment to the Western Pacific, your unit may participate in various deployments away from MCAS Iwakuni. It is very important that you never change or modify your mailing address for these short deployments. Doing so, may result in your mail being delayed or misrouted.
• Finally, please remind all your correspondents to neatly and legibly print your mailing address on all mail they send you. They should avoid using script, cursive, calligraphy, and other similar writing styles, as they are often very difficult to read and may also cause mail delays and/or misrouting. It's always best to type mailing addresses whenever possible; otherwise, neat block-style print (in all capital letters) should be used.

Change of address notifications:

• Just prior to your unit's scheduled departure from your current CONUS duty station, all deploying personnel who are authorized to receive their personal mail through the unit mailroom should send out written change of address notifications to all personal correspondents (including all family, friends, banks, magazine publishers, and creditors) to notify them of their new FPO mailing address. Your stateside Post Office can furnish you with free change of address kits for this purpose.
• Personnel, who reside in government quarters or off-base housing, simply need to check into the mailroom prior to deployment, adopt the unit's mailing address for the receipt of personal mail. Address change notifications to banks, creditors, magazine publishers, and other personal correspondents are not required unless the service member (and his/her spouse) desires to have mail from these correspondents sent directly overseas. Otherwise, it will continue to be delivered to the deployed service member's family at his/her stateside mailing address.
• All personnel should remember to always make address change notifications in writing and notify all correspondents of the importance of using the proper address content and format (including a 9-digit ZIP Code) on all personal mail.

Mailing restrictions during deployement:

During your deployment to the Western Pacific, your unit may participate in various deployments away from MCAS Iwakuni. The below are the restrictions to the possible deploying countries;

Mainland Japan and Okinawa:

• Customs Declaration Form 2976-A is required for all personal U.S. Mail weighing 16 ounces or more.
• Customs Declaration Form 2976 or 2976-A is required on personal U.S. Mail. Articles are liable for customs duty and/or purchase tax unless they are bona fide gifts intended for use by military personnel or their dependents. When the contents of a parcel meet these requirements, the mailer must endorse the customs form, "Certified to be a bona fide gift, personal effects, or items for personal use by military personnel and dependents," under the heading, Description of Contents.
• Fruits, animals, and living plants are prohibited;
  • Meat products, such as dried beef, salami, and sausage, may be mailed, provided they remain in their original, hermetically sealed packages and bear USDA certification. Other meats, bones, skin, hair, feathers, horns or hoofs of hoofed animals, and wool samples are prohibited.
  • Obscene material (including drawings, films, photographs, and carvings) is prohibited.
  • Tobacco leaves, including chewing and pipe tobacco, snuff, cigars and cigarettes are prohibited. Exception: Up to 200 grams of tobacco per parcel are permitted duty free.

Republic of Korea:

• Customs Declaration Form 2976-A is required for all personal U.S. Mail weighing 16 ounces or more.
• Customs Declaration Form 2976 or 2976-A is required on personal U.S. Mail. Articles are liable for customs duty and/or purchase tax unless they are bona fide gifts intended for use by military personnel or their dependents. When the contents of a parcel meet these requirements, the mailer must endorse the customs form, "Certified to be a bona fide gift, personal effects, or items for personal use by military personnel and dependents," under the heading, Description of Contents.
• Securities, currency, or precious metals in their raw manufactured or not are prohibited. Official mail shipments are exempt from this prohibition.

Kingdom of Thailand:

• Customs Declaration Form 2976-A is required on all mail weighing 16 ounces or more.
• Firearms of any type are prohibited in all classes of mail. Contact your local Post Office for a definition of the term "firearm" as recognized by the U.S. Postal Service. This prohibition does not apply to firearms mailed to or by official U.S. Government agencies.

Australia:

• Customs Declaration Form 2976-A is required for all personal U.S. Mail weighing 16 ounces or more.
• Customs Declaration Form 2976 or 2976-A is required on personal U.S. Mail. Articles are liable for customs duty and/or purchase tax unless they are bona fide gifts intended for use by military personnel or their dependents. When the contents of a parcel meet these requirements, the mailer must endorse the customs form, "Certified to be a bona fide gift, personal effects, or items for personal use by military personnel and dependents," under the heading, Description of Contents,
• Securities, currency, or precious metals in their raw, manufactured or not are prohibited. Official mail shipments are exempt from this prohibition.
• Meats, including preserved meats, whether hermetically sealed or not, are prohibited.
• Mail of all classes must fit inside a mail sack. Contact your local U.S. Post Office to inquire about specific size limitations.Fruits, animals, and living plants are prohibited.
• Registered mail is prohibited.

• Deploying personnel are encouraged to notify all their friends, family members, and other correspondents of the mailing restrictions shown above, in the event your squadron deploys to one of these areas. Incoming mail is routinely screened by customs officials and is subject to being opened, searched, and seized if it is suspected of containing any restricted or prohibited material. Additionally, the mailer and/or the addressee may also be subject to prosecution under customs/import laws.
• It is requested that the information outlined in this Web Page be disseminated as widely as possible throughout your command, as well as to the family members of all deploying personnel. Unit Postal Officers are encouraged to print this page and provide a copy to each deploying service member as far in advance of your unit's deployment as possible (distribution at unit pre-Deployment Briefings or Family Days are encouraged). Please advise all personnel to read it thoroughly and carefully, as it contains some very useful and important information. In addition, please check out all the pages in our Web Site as each contains good information for personnel deploying to MCAS Iwakuni.
• All postal-related questions regarding your unit's deployment to West-Pac, should be referred initially to your unit Postal Officer.

Personal mail address format

1st Line: Rank/ Rate First and Last Name
2nd Line: PSC 561 Box XXXX
3rd Line: FPO AP 96310 - XXXX

Mainside Post Office

Northside Post Office

Atago Housing

The following restrictions apply specifically to all personal mail destined for MCAS Iwakuni:

1. Appropriate U.S. Customs Form is required on all personal mail.

2. Fruits, animals, living plants, and soil are prohibited.

3. All meat products must remain in their original, hermetically sealed packages and bear official USDA certification.

4. Obscene material (including drawings, films, photographs, and carvings) is prohibited.

5. No more than one carton of cigarettes per parcel are allowed to be mailed.

6. Wool samples, skin, hair, feathers, bones, and animal horns are prohibited.

7. Mailing alcohol is prohibited.

Important Note:

It's very important that you notify all your friends, family members, and other correspondents of these mailing restrictions, too. Incoming mail is routinely screened by Japanese Customs Agents and is subject to being opened, searched, and seized if it is suspected of containing any restricted or prohibited material. Additionally, the mailer and/or the addressee may also be subject to prosecution under American or Japanese customs and import/export laws.

Non-Mailable Matter

Non-mailable matter includes all matter, which is by U.S. law, regulation, or treaty stipulation, prohibited from being sent in the mail or which cannot be forwarded to its destination because of illegible, incorrect, or insufficient addressing. Matter is also non-mailable when it fails to comply with Postal regulations regarding size, weight, rates of postage, and/or proper preparation for mailing.
Matter which may not be sent through the mail includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Intoxicating liquors.

2. Habit forming drugs and those drugs, possession of which, has been declared to be illegal by law.

3. Any articles, compositions, or materials, which may kill or injure another, or damage the mail or other property.

4. Ammunition and explosives of all types.

5. Obscene and indecent matter. Any pornography or pornographic material is prohibited.

6. Lotteries, frauds, and libelous matter.

7. Publications, which violate copyrights granted by the United States.

8. Perishable matter, switchblade knives, and concealable firearms (except under special rules, conditions, and restrictions).

9. U.S. Government property intended for personal use, except for those items that have been sold through authorized agencies of the U.S. Government and are accompanied by sales and/or purchase receipts.

10. Any letters, publications, or other items containing any matter advocating or urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance to any law of the United States; or any letter, publication, or other matter containing any threat to take the life of, or inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States.

Hold

If you are going on Leave or TAD for more than 5 consecutive days, you are required to notify the Post Office and leave specific written mail disposition instructions on a DD Form 2258 prior to your departure. During this temporary absence, you can authorize eligible personnel to come by and pick up your mail (although this is not a requirement). For your protection, only you or your command-sponsored spouse may provide us with mail disposition instructions and it MUST be done in person.

Forward

If you are going on Leave or TAD for over 30 days your mail can be forwarded to your Leave or TAD address (domestic address only). You are required to notify the Post Office and leave specific written mail disposition instructions on a DD Form 2258 prior to your departure. A complete forwarding address is required.

PCS

Prior to departing you should send out written change of address notifications to all your personal correspondents including all banks, magazine publishers, and creditors. Additionally, you are required to check out with the Post Office, so that your mail may be forwarded to you after your departure. Be sure to designate the effective forwarding date on your change of address request.

Please note that Pre-sort Standard (Bulk-Rate), Standard Mail and non-profit organization and mailings (most catalogs, circulars, and similar items) will not normally be forwarded to your new address; therefore, if you desire to continue to receive these mailings after you PCS, you must file an address change notification with each of these companies individually.

Important note:

Remember to always make your address change notifications in writing and notify all correspondents of the importance of using the proper address content and format (including a 9-digit ZIP Code) on all your mail.

Postal OIC:
253-6217

Postal Chief:
253-6322

Operations Chief:
253-4538

Postal Information:
253-3114

Fax Admin:
253-6661

January

New Year's Day

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February

President's Day

May

Friendship Day

Memorial Day

July

Independence Day

September

Labor Day

October

Columbus Day

November

Veteran's Day

Thanksgiving Day

December

Christmas Day

* Per III MEF guidance

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