How to Send a Parcel or Letter to a Soldier — Writing a 56 APO / 99 APO Address for Speed Post
The exact address layout, the one thing you must never write on the cover, what to pack (and what not to), and what the tracking will and won't show once your parcel enters the Army Postal Service.
Already posted it? Check where it is
Enter the 13-character Speed Post number from your receipt to see every scan up to the Army sorting hub.
You don't send a parcel to the place where your soldier is posted. You send it to their unit, "C/O 56 APO" or "C/O 99 APO", with the unit's six-digit Army PIN that starts with 9. Book it at any post office counter as normal Speed Post. India Post carries it to the Army's central sorting office, and the Army Postal Service takes it from there to the unit's Field Post Office.
Everything you need for the cover comes from one place: the address your soldier gives you. Ask them to send it on WhatsApp, word for word — Army number, rank, name, sub-unit, unit, PIN and APO. Copy it exactly. Don't add the town, the state or the sector, even if you know it.
Below is the full layout with an example, what to pack for a cold or remote posting, how long it realistically takes, and why your tracking goes quiet after "1 CBPO" — which is normal, not a sign that the parcel is lost.
How the Army Postal Service Works (in 60 Seconds)
Mail for the armed forces runs through the Army Postal Service (APS), whose history goes back to 1856. Within India Post it sits under a special "Base Circle" headed by an Additional Director General, separate from the civilian postal circles. It runs its own network of Field Post Offices (FPOs) that serve units wherever they are deployed.
Everything is funnelled through two Central Base Post Offices (CBPOs). These are the "56" and "99" you see on Army addresses:
56 APO — 1 CBPO, New Delhi
The bigger of the two. It handles units across most of the country — everywhere except the eastern sector. Most families will be writing "C/O 56 APO".
99 APO — 2 CBPO, Kolkata
Handles formations in the eastern theatre: the eight north-eastern states, West Bengal and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
So the journey looks like this: your post office → India Post's sorting network → the CBPO (New Delhi or Kolkata) → the Army's own mail chain → the unit's Field Post Office → your soldier. The whole point of the system is that the cover never needs to say where the unit actually is.
Don't pick 56 or 99 yourself. You can't, really — you're not supposed to know where the unit is. Use whichever APO your soldier writes. Units move, and the APO and PIN can change with a posting, so ask again before every parcel if it's been a few months.
The 56 APO / 99 APO Address Format — With an Example
Write it in this order, one item per line, in clear capital letters. This example is made up — use the details your soldier gives you.
To (example only)
No. 15xxxxxxK NAIK RAMESH KUMAR
B COMPANY
XX BATTALION, THE ___ REGIMENT
PIN – 9xxxxx
C/O 56 APO
Mobile (optional, if your soldier wants it on the cover): 98xxxxxxxx
Army number, rank and full name
The service number is the single most useful line — a unit can have three Ramesh Kumars. Write the rank as your soldier writes it (Sep, L/Nk, Nk, Hav, Sub and so on).
Sub-unit and unit
Company, battery or squadron first, then the unit name. Copy abbreviations exactly — the unit's own mail clerk sorts by them.
The Army PIN (starts with 9)
India's PIN system has eight geographic zones (first digit 1 to 8). The ninth is reserved for the Army Postal Service, so every APS PIN starts with 9. There is no single "PIN code of 56 APO" — each unit's PIN is different. Don't copy one from a PIN-code website; use the one your soldier gives you.
"C/O 56 APO" or "C/O 99 APO" as the last line
This tells India Post which CBPO to send it to. Put it last, where a civilian address would have the town name.
Never write the unit's actual location. No town, no district, no "Leh", "Kupwara" or "Arunachal", no camp name — not on the cover, not on the sender slip, not on a note inside.
The APO system exists so troop locations stay off paper. There's a practical reason too: a place name can confuse the sorting, because the cover now points two ways — to the Army system and to a civilian town. We've seen consumer complaints about parcels addressed "C/O 56 APO … Bhatinda, Punjab" that never reached the soldier.
On the back, write your own full name, address, PIN and mobile number so it can come back to you if the soldier has moved. Our general guide on how to write an address on Speed Post covers handwriting and label tips that apply here too.
Speed Post or Ordinary Parcel to an APO Address?
Any normal post office will accept mail for an APO address — you don't need a special counter, and you can book it as Speed Post. (Registered Post is no longer a separate service: since 1 September 2025 it has been merged into Speed Post, with registration-style proof of delivery available as a paid add-on.) Here's how the options compare for a family sending something to a unit:
| Option | Tracking | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Speed Post (document or parcel) | Yes — barcode number, scans up to the CBPO | Gifts, sweets that keep, documents, anything you want proof of posting for |
| India Post Parcel | Yes — tracking number | Heavier, non-urgent items where cost matters more than speed |
| Ordinary letter / inland letter / postcard | No | Personal letters and cards — cheap, but no record if it goes missing |
Charges: an APO parcel is booked as domestic mail, so the counter charges by weight and distance just like any other Speed Post or parcel, plus GST as applicable. The clerk calculates it when you hand it over — see our Speed Post charges guide for how the slabs work, and keep the printed receipt. It has your tracking number.
My honest pick: Speed Post. The extra cost over an ordinary parcel buys you a tracking number and a booking record, and that's what you'll need if you ever have to raise a complaint.
What Not to Send, and How to Pack for a Cold or Remote Posting
India Post's standard prohibited list applies to APO mail exactly as it does to any other address. The full list is in our Speed Post prohibited items guide; the ones families trip over most are below.
Don't send
- Firecrackers, matches, lighters, lighter fuel — anything explosive or inflammable
- Aerosol sprays, perfumes in spray cans, gas cylinders
- Narcotics, or anything illegal to send under any law
- Cash or gold (gold coins/bullion over ₹20,000 are prohibited outright)
- Fresh sweets, cooked food, fruit — they won't survive the journey
- Anything with the unit's location, photos of the area, or details your soldier shared about their posting
Good choices
- Dry fruits, packaged mithai and namkeen with a long shelf life, sealed in the original pack
- Woollens — socks, gloves, a muffler, thermals
- Letters, drawings from the kids, printed photos of family
- Books, a diary, toiletries in non-spray form
Electronics and batteries: India Post's parcel rules say items that can't go by air (batteries are the common one) are booked as India Post Parcel and sent by surface, which is slower. If you're sending a power bank or a phone, tell the counter clerk what's inside and ask how they'll book it. And ask your soldier first — some units have their own rules about phones and gadgets, and they'll know.
Packing for snow, rain and a long journey
- Use a strong corrugated carton, not a used shoe box. APO mail is handled many times and may finish its trip over rough roads.
- Put everything inside a sealed plastic bag first. If the carton gets wet in snow or monsoon, the contents stay dry.
- Liquids freeze and expand in sub-zero places. Skip glass bottles; if you must send pickle or ghee, use a screw-top plastic jar, tape the lid, and double-bag it.
- Fill empty space with newspaper or clothes so nothing rattles.
- Tape all seams with brown packing tape, and write the address directly on the box as well as on any label, in case the label tears off.
- Keep it a size and weight one person can carry. Check our Speed Post weight and size limits before you pack a big box.
Step-by-Step: Posting It at the Counter
Get the current address from your soldier
Ask for it in writing, not over a crackly phone call. Confirm the PIN and whether it's 56 or 99 APO. If they've been posted recently, double-check — an old unit address is the most common reason parcels wander.
Pack and address it at home
Follow the packing list above. Write the To address on the front and your From address on the back. Leave the box unsealed on one side if you think the clerk may want to see the contents.
Book it as Speed Post at the counter
Say clearly: "Speed Post, Army address, C/O 56 APO." The clerk enters the PIN, weighs it and prints a receipt. If the system throws up a civilian town for the PIN, stop and check — you may have a wrong digit.
Before you leave, check the receipt: the 13-character number (like EM123456789IN), the destination shown, and the weight. Photograph it. Our how to send Speed Post guide walks through the counter process in detail.
Send the tracking number to your soldier
They can ask the unit's post clerk about it once it reaches the FPO. That's often faster than anything you can find online.
Tracking: What You'll See, and Why It Stops at the CBPO
Track the number on SpeedIndiaPost.com like any other Speed Post. The first part of the journey looks completely normal. Then it changes.
| Scan you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Item Booked | Accepted at your post office. |
| Item Bagged / Item Dispatched | Put in a mail bag and sent onward — sometimes shown as "bagged to 1CBPO". See what "Item Bagged" means. |
| Item Received at a sorting hub (NSH) | Passing through India Post's sorting network on the way to New Delhi or Kolkata. |
| Received / bagged at "NSH 1 CBPO" or "2 CBPO" | It has reached the Army's central base post office. This is often the last scan you'll see for a while. |
| Long silence, then maybe "Delivered" | Moving through the Army's own chain to the FPO and unit. Updates are patchy from here. |
Why does it go quiet? After the CBPO, mail moves on the Army's own logistics, to Field Post Offices in places where connectivity is limited and where the system is built to reveal as little as possible about where units are. A scan saying "received at FPO such-and-such" in real time would defeat the purpose. So families often see a burst of normal scans, then nothing for a week or more.
Consumer complaint forums have plenty of "stuck at 1 CBPO" posts from worried senders. A long gap after the CBPO isn't proof that a parcel is lost. The reliable check isn't the website; it's your soldier asking at the unit.
When to actually worry: if your soldier hasn't received it a month after it reached the CBPO, or if the tracking shows it going somewhere civilian (a town post office, "addressee not found", "return to sender"). Then raise a complaint with the tracking number — the steps are in our Speed Post complaint guide.
How Long It Takes — and When to Post for the Next Festival
India Post doesn't publish a delivery standard for APO mail. The leg to the CBPO usually behaves like normal Speed Post — a few days. What happens after depends on where the unit is: a unit in a peace station may get it within days of the CBPO, while a post high in the mountains might only get mail when a vehicle or convoy goes up.
My rule of thumb: give it at least three weeks, and more in winter for high-altitude postings. Better still, ask your soldier how long mail has been taking — they'll know their unit's rhythm.
Missed Diwali (8 November)?
It happens to a lot of families. Send it anyway — a box that arrives a week late is still the best thing in the unit's mail that day. Write "Happy Diwali, a bit late!" on the card and post it this week.
New Year and Lohri
Working back three to four weeks, post New Year parcels by the first week of December, and Lohri parcels by mid-December. Woollens make sense for both.
Birthdays and anniversaries
Same rule — post three to four weeks ahead. Avoid posting just before a run of post office holidays; check our post office holidays list.
Ordering online instead? Amazon India says it serves Army-restricted locations through the Army Postal Service, under its partnership with India Post. Enter the unit address in the same format — Army PIN, unit, C/O APO — and check at checkout whether that item can be delivered there. Expect the same slow last leg through the APS.
Track Your APO Parcel
Enter your Speed Post number to see every scan up to the CBPO. If it's been stuck at a civilian office rather than the CBPO, our guide to Speed Post tracking not updating will help you work out where it is.
Track Your Consignment NowFrequently Asked Questions
What to Do Now
- Message your soldier today for their current address in writing: number, rank, name, sub-unit, unit, PIN, and 56 or 99 APO.
- Pack dry, sealed, non-spray items in a strong carton with an inner plastic bag. No crackers, no glass.
- Write the address exactly as given — no town, no state — and your own address on the back.
- Book it as Speed Post, photograph the receipt, and send the number to your soldier.
- Track it on SpeedIndiaPost.com until it reaches the CBPO, then give it time. Only complain if a month passes with nothing at the unit.
Track Your Speed Post to an APO Address
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