How to fill out a Customs Form

If you've been through a deployment, you know what form I'm talking about. It's a pain in the rear to fill out, and when you're just starting out it's extremely confusing to know what to do with it and what to put on it. So here's a quick little FYI on how to fill them out and what to do with them :)

This is the form you'll need, it's called a 2976-A customs form (photo from www.anymarine.com):

Starting at the top, your information goes here. Last and first name, and address. Next is the recipients address. Let's take an example address:

CPL John Smith

AIMD/IM-2

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)

FPO AP 99999-1345

On a customs form, the rank does not have a spot so it is left off (you DO however include this on the care package itself). The "AIMD/IM-2 USS Bonhomme Richard LHD-6" will go on the street address line. FPO is put on the city line, AP is put on the state line. And the zip code goes in the zip code spaces, with the hyphen.

Next is the care package contents. You don't have to be extremely specific, like 3 toothbrushes and 2 deodorants. You can simply put toiletries, food, candy, and so forth. Estimate the weight and value. 

Check the "Gift" box in the next line, Airmail after that, and make sure you specify if you want the box returned to sender or treated as abandoned (which means they will give it to anyone) if the box is un-deliverable. 

Then sign it and you're done! Fill one out for each box you're sending but don't put them in the care packages. Take them to the post office and give them the right form for the right box, they will give you one copy of the form back and the rest will be put in a clear envelope and taped to the outside of the box. 

Hope this wasn't too confusing! I've had 3 deployments worth of filling out these little annoying forms so I've become a pro at it! And they've introduced something awesome, you can now fill them out online here. You must print out the same amount of copies though as they'd need with a handwritten form, so you have to print out 7 or 8 pages. So one method saves you from hand cramping, and the other saves the paper and ink on your printer! Your choice :)