Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 12/15/2005

Question
I have a friend who is in the army, he was deployed to iraq in oct. When he left we had abit of a falling out and ended on bad terms, since then, I have been trying everything to get some sort of email address or mailing address so that I can contact him and let him know how much I really care. I have no clue where he is in Iraq and I do not know what unit he is in... Is there any way that I can send him a letter? This whole situation is making me extremley upset, there has got to be a way... Somebody HELP!!! thank you and god bless...
Whitney.

Answer
Dear Whitney --

If you do not know the Soldier's unit, it becomes very difficult to reach them.  If you know the last installation where he was assigned state-side, you can call the post locator.  The post locator, should be able to give you the unit he was in and the APO or FPO (military post offices for deployed Soldiers) of that unit.

You could then send him a letter using his full name and unit, and the APO.

Another possibility is, if you have his old address, you send him a letter there.  Most Soldiers have the US postal service or someone else forward their mail to them while they are deployed.

Another thing to try.  The Army has generic email addresses set up as firstname.lastname@us.army.mil.  If your Soldier does not have a common name, you can try that to see if you reach him.  Three cautions: 1) He might have used a different template for his Army email especially if he has a common name; 2) If he is a junior, or a III (third) or such, he will have an unusual Army username; and 3) Not all Soldiers check their Army Knowledge Online mailbox frequently.  So he may not answer you, for any of those reasons.  

Finally, you could take out a classified add in the Army Times that says "(Soldier's Name) sorry we parted on bad terms please email me at ________.  (Your Name)"  Or something to that effect.  Probably every other guy in his unit will tell him someone wrote to him via the Army times and tease him mercilessly about it, but he's sure to get the message.

Best of luck to you both.