Navy Bootcamp Mailing Address Format

by vmcjnocturnal

Dec 11, 2020

Hi everyone!

I just want to start off by saying I am very grateful for this website, as it has been a great way to gain insight into the Navy/Boot camp process. 

I sent my SR several snail mails with the address he provided me through his first phone call. Attached below is an example:
SR (Last Name, First Name)
Ship #, USS _____, Division #
XXXX (Address of Base)
(City, State XXXXX-XXXX)

I have been reading that including the "USS _______" or the specific ship name is additional information that is not needed, even though my SR specified verbatim that this is the format of his address. 
Though many have stated it is okay to add that information, my main concern is that he will not receive my letters on time/there will be a delay. Will my SR still receive my snail mail with the stated address above? Is it more beneficial or faster to only include Ship #/Division # for the second line?
I apologize for the length of the message, it is my first time sending letters to a SR. Thanks in advance!
  • up

    Chipmunk

    vmcjnocturnal - First of all, I apologize that no one has replied to your message. 

    I want to clarify something also - Your son is a seaman recruit not a recruiter (that is who was at the Navy office and recruited him to join), so I was a little confused at first when I read your message thinking the recruiter had given you the format. We also generally shorten seaman recruit to SR when we post comments on this site, to help you out. 

    If you have not joined the BC Mom group -  BC Moms group       I would encourage you to do so. (Click on the blue letters, it should link you to the main BC Mom group page - I believe in the upper right hand corner there is a little grey box that says, join. click on that. 

    Once you join the BC Mom group, be sure to come and introduce yourself and where you are at in this journey. Scroll down through the information pages, past the discussion, till you come to the comment wall. That is where we post a lot of our information and answer questions for the new members. I just posted this earlier this evening, it is a page from RTC (Recruit Training Command's) website for BC. It shows the proper format for addressing mail to send to your SR. RTC - Contacting Recruits

    If you notice, they do not indicate that you need to include the name of the ship. I believe they tell the SRs to put the name of their ship on their return address, because I think that is so that we know what ship they are in - but other than that, use the address format as they have it on their website. (click that link above.)

    If you are really concerned about him getting your mail, you can make duplicate copies and send one to one and one to the other. They also have to train a mail petty officer from among the SRs in his division to learn how to handle the mail and distribute it back, so it could take a bit for him to get it anyway. 

    Hugs!! 

    2

    Dec 12, 2020