I want to send a book to a friend stationed in Iraq.  I'm asking here because I think this is a postal question more than a PBS question. 

The following would be a sample of a miltary address:

Rank FirstName LastName 1234 AWS / AAFES Building Complex APO AE 09241

I am questioning the last line in the above example.  The "city" is APO and the "state" is AE and then the ZIP.  I want to know what's going to happen if I request a book to be sent to this address via PBS. 

I know if I send packages, they have to have a customs form attached.  And I would think anything being sent to Iraq would have to be sent First Class at the very least.  Would a Media Mail package even make it there? 

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking more and more that the easiest thing would be to have a book sent to me and I pass it along.  I'm still asking because there are a lot more people in places overseas that are not Iraq or Afghanistan and have more permanent addresses. 

PBS does know how to handle APO and FPO addresses. Go to the member directory under the Community menu. Search for APO in the city field and you'll see some of our military members.

It really doesn't matter much which way you send to the APO address.   IF you send it First Class or Media Mail, once it gets to the APO location, it goes military mail.       In other words - you are only paying postage to the city where the military mail picks it up.    I send to my nephew and use priority mail since I can cram a TON of stuff in a standard priority box.     

Remember that anything sent to an APO OR FPO address has to have a customs form filled out with it.  They are simple and you get them at your post office.

I mail 4-5 book packages to APO/FPO addresses through Operation Paperback (a program to send books to military personnel) at least once a month and have never had a problem doing so.   I send them all media mail and many times the books are received quicker than books sent to state side addresses because of how the military processes them once they enter that postal system.   The biggest key to mailing to military addresses is to make sure that there is a custom form completed.  They take a few minutes to fill out but I do not mind.  Also, you may have to put up with some "flack" from postal workers.  At my post office, I get a snotty huff from some of the postal clerks if I am mailing 3 or 4 APO packages in the same mailing.  I also always get the lecture about how I will have to pay the postage if they are sent back but I just let them talk and then say "thanks, I understand that".

I have also mailed several books to PBS members at APO addresses and have had no problems with the books being received.