what exactly does APO and FPO mean in military zip codes?

Question

what is the history? and are they still in use?

Answer 1

Overseas military post offices operated or supported by the Army or Air Force use the city abbreviation APO [Army Post Office / Air (Force) Post Office], while overseas military post offices operated or supported by the Navy, Marine Corps or U.S. Coast Guard use the city abbreviation FPO (Fleet Post Office). Three (3) quasi-State codes have been assigned depending on the (approximate) geographic location of the military mail recipient and also the carrier route to be taken. They are:

AE (Armed Forces Europe / Canada / Middle East / Africa )
AP (Armed Forces Pacific)
AA (Armed Forces Americas)

Until 1980, each U.S. military service managed its own military mail program. In 1980, the Department of Defense (DoD) designated the Secretary of the Army as the single military mail manager. The Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) was created to perform this task, with a jointly-staffed headquarters located in the National Capital Region. MPSA is required to adhere to United States Postal Service (USPS) rules, federal laws, and various international laws and agreements for movement of military mail into over 85 countries. MPSA is the single DoD point of contact with the USPS. It conducts DoD contingency planning and provides postal support to theater Combatant Commanders through Services' theater postal commands. It serves as a proponent of DoD's cost control policy for DoD official mail and as the functional director for military mail. MPSA also monitors transportation funds dedicated to overseas mail movement.

In addition to supporting U.S. military installations overseas, the MPSA also supports mail delivery to and from U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad and, of course, to deployed personnel in combat zones worldwide. In most (but not all) locations, special services such as Express Mail, registered mail, certified mail, money orders, etc. are offered. Through the furnishing of overseas transport and delivery services for U.S. military mail between the U.S. and overseas duty stations, postage rates are equivalent to U.S. domestic postage rates. All military mail between the U.S. and overseas locations is subject to customs inspection in the country of destination, and customs declarations must normally be attached to packages and larger mail pieces. Some host nations may restrict or prohibit the mailing or receipt of certain items, such as pornography, meat products (especially pork), firearms, tobacco, etc., via the U.S. military postal system.

In accordance with treaties and other international agreements, use of U.S. military postal services overseas is normally restricted to authorized customers, i.e., U.S. personnel (military, civilian and diplomatic) stationed overseas (either permanently or temporarily) and their dependents. Retired U.S. military personnel living overseas may also have limited access to the military postal service, depending on their country of residence.

Answer 2

APO traditionally means "Air Post Office" which was a World War II term. It usually tracked a unit or an overseas location with a three-digit code, but adopted five-digit ZIP codes when they were adopted in the 1960's. A typical APO address was APO San Francisco 96278. (That would be a Pacific location.)

FPO's are Fleet Post Offices, which are usually ships but could be shore installations. Some Navy bases might have FPO addresses while others on shared facilities might have APO's.

Again, these terms generally started in World War II and have been modernized and are still in use. Many locations were sensitive or classified, so the numbers were used to route mail to those sites.

Answer 3

chellek has the best and most accurate answer. 100% correct. I would only add one thing to this.

Until the late 90s, APO was the "city" and NY was the "state". They removed NY and added AE for Army Europe/Canada/Middle East/Africa, AP for Army Pacific, and AA for Army Americas.

The postal rates are still charged at the rate a letter or package would cost to go to NY, as all mail to APO addresses goes to NY before being shipped to the various APO regions.

They are still in use today. Every APO has it's own zip code as well. For example, APO AE 09089 was for Army Post Office, Army Europe, Babenhausen Kaserne, Germany. That post recently closed, so that one is no longer used. But the APO system is living strong.

Answer 4

chellek's answer is correct and very detailed. The designators AP, AE, AA, stand for Armed Forces Pacific, Armed Forces Europe and Armed Forces Americas. I live in Southeast Asia and receive mail regularly through the APO in the Bangkok Embassy as a retiree. We are allowed to receive letter mail, magazines, cds, tapes and books not to exceed one pound. The exception to that is medical shipments.

Answer 5

Army Post Office (APO) - for U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force postal facilities

Fleet Post Office (FPO) - for U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard postal facilities

It's still in use today.

Answer 6

amry post office and fleet post office