Home » Family Information » Postal Terms
Sunday » May 11, 2008
The number one tidbit of advice to Parents, Friends and Spouses sending mail to trainees: BE PATIENT!
The second tidbit is this: send letters and cards as often as possible. Trainees want to hear from you, to read your words of encouragement and feel your morale support! Tell them how proud you are of their decision to join the Air Force. Tell them that you are behind them 100%. Encourage them to stay tough and hang in there because Basic Training is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Once they finish they'll never have to do it again. Become their coach and loudest cheerleader! Always be positive!
After the first week of training has concluded, new trainees will be given time to write letters and call home. How much time given is completely at the discretion of each Training Instructor (TI). Mail will start to flow naturally, depending on the writing habits of your son or daughter; however, your Airman must have time to adjust to his or her new environment. The entire world is turned upside down for them and it is completely different from their lives at home. They are NOT off at some college or school; they are in Basic Military Training!
DO NOT SEND FOOD, CANDY, GUM or other consumable items to your airman. It is not allowed.
During the first week of training, your airman will send you an information letter. Pay particular attention to the return address.
There are six training squadrons on Lackland. They are the 320 TRS, 321 TRS, 322 TRS, 323 TRS, 324 TRS and 331 TRS. A group of airman going through Basic Training together is called a "Flight." Therefore in the address, FLT stands for "flight" and there will be a 3 digit number assigned, which will be provided by your Airman.
The proper mailing address formats to use when writing letters are shown below. If you follow the examples that are provided, you can be assured that your post cards and letters will reach your loved ones, even if you are missing minor pieces of the address.
We do not know your Airman's Dormitory or Flight numbers, so please do not ask. You must allow at least 3-4 weeks to receive the letter they send out about graduation. If you do not get the letter, don't get upset, come back to this website because it contains 50 times more information than what you'll get in that letter.
Every place there is an "X" in the addresses you need to provide specific information. The unit number, 36xxxx, relates to the dormitory your Airman is living in. In the table below, find the squadron and the dormitory and that 4 digit number is the number that you will place directly behind the '36'. The flight number and dormitory number will be provided to you by your Airman.