I've been struggling with sending packages to my son who is on a DDG.
It's relatively easy when you address the package yourself but using one of the online stores, it's more cross your fingers and hope.
My son's address looks something like this:
Sailor's Name
Their Division / Department
USS Bulkeley (DDG 84)
Unit 100319 Box 1* (they each have their own box number)
FPO AE 09565-1301
When I went to Amazon.com I entered the address like this:
(Full Name) Rate Rank Last Name, First
(Address line 1) Department
(Address line 2) USS Bulkeley (DDG 84)
(City) FPO
(State) AE
(Zip Code) 09565-1301
(Country) United States
Amazon was good they seemed to have it together.they had custom form filled out so it was accepted by USPS and went through OK. Other items I bought on Amazon but through one of their "Online Sellers", got the address correct but not the customs form so it was [REJECTED]. You should contact the seller to make sure they include the customs form when dealing with them.
Wisconsin Meats, was also very good and had online help to get you through the forms. (They also include extras for the sailors) ***** stars for this site
Puritans Pride, totally useless. I knew it was going to be a problem so I called to help them through the address. 1st time they used my address[REJECTED], 2nd time the correct address, with my name [REJECTED], 3rd time, 1 month later and four calls, it's somewhere on Long Island out for delivery!
ZERO stars for them
Nice thing about buying online, you can often get free shipping and when it works it seems to get to the FPO faster for some reason.
Let me know what your experiences are. I'm still learning!
