Army · Basic Combat Training
How to Address a Letter to Fort Sill Basic Training
Fort Sill is the Army's field artillery home, and its unit line reflects that: soldiers are assigned to a battery rather than a company. If the word battery looks unfamiliar next to the company designations you have seen elsewhere, that is expected here and not a sign anything is wrong.
The address format
Everything in brackets comes from your recruit. The city, state, and ZIP are the same for everyone training here.
Build the Fort Sill address
Fill in what your recruit told you and copy the finished address. Free, and nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
Pre-filled with the usual starting rank for this branch. Change it if theirs is different.
The street address is assigned by battery and varies. Wait until your recruit reaches their training battalion and use the address they send you.
Fill in the fields above to see the finished address.
What families get wrong at Fort Sill
Battery, not company
Field artillery units use battery as the equivalent of a company. Your soldier will give you a letter designation for it, the same way a company is designated.
Wait for the training battalion address
Street addresses at Fort Sill are assigned by battery and change accordingly. Wait until your soldier has actually reached their training battalion, then use the address they send you rather than an earlier one.
The FA battalion number belongs in the unit line
A designation like 1-79 FA identifies the field artillery battalion. Enter the battalion number below and the full line is assembled in the format the mailroom expects.
Would rather not mail it yourself?
Write your message and we will put it on paper, address it to Fort Sill in the format above, and mail it for you. Pen on paper. Never a printed font. Letters from $5, cards from $9, no account needed.
Send Mail to Fort SillCommon questions
What is a battery in an Army address?
In artillery units, battery is the equivalent of a company. It is a normal part of a Fort Sill address and should be written exactly as your soldier gave it.
My soldier is doing OSUT at Fort Sill. Is the address different?
The format is the same. What changes is how long the address stays valid, since One Station Unit Training keeps soldiers in one unit through both phases.
Should I put a return address on the envelope?
Always. Unit assignments can change during training, and without a return address a misdirected letter is simply gone instead of coming back to you. This is the single most recommended habit in basic training mail guidance, and it is why a return address is required rather than optional on anything we send.
Can I send a package or put something inside the envelope?
Most basic training installations restrict packages, especially early in the cycle, and many prohibit enclosures like food, electronics, or anything bulky. Letters and flat photos are the safest thing to send. Check your installation's current guidance before mailing anything else.
How long does mail take to arrive?
Transit time depends on where you are mailing from, plus a few days on the installation for the mailroom to sort and distribute to the training unit. Mail is not usually handed out daily, so a letter that seems slow is very often just waiting for the next mail call.
What happens if the unit information changes during training?
It happens regularly. If mail stops getting through, ask for a current address rather than assuming anything was lost. A return address means older letters find their way back to you rather than disappearing.
Other basic training addresses
See the mailing address format for every branch and installationAddress formats here are compiled from published basic training mail guidance and are a strong starting point, not an official directory. Unit assignments change during training. Always check against whatever your recruit has actually sent home. Boot Camp Letters is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the United States Department of Defense or any branch of the armed forces.