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SAILOR MAIL: Helpful Things to Know

When sending an e-mail to a submarine, the address has a specific naming convention. Use the first six letters of the last name, the first initial, then the middle initial, followed by the boat identifier (name-crewcolor.navy.mil). This will make it dramatically easier to route the e-mail once it arrives on the ship. Additionally, all e-mail sent to a sub should have the sailor’s name in the subject line.

For example, if John B. Jingleheimer is serving on the USS LOLLIPOP Gold crew, you’d address his email like this:

Subject: MM2 John Jingleheimer

To:

Please note that all emails to and from the ship shall be reviewed for content. This is not for the purpose of invading your privacy. This is necessary so that any news that may be potentially harmful to the crewmember or negatively affect his morale, can be handled separately through more appropriate channels. Read the “Special Messages” section below. Be aware that your email privilege may be revoked for its abuse or inappropriate use.

Sending email to a submarine (“Sailor Mail”) is not as straightforward as sending elsewhere. Plus, it's a little alarming when you receive a message in return saying your original email has been modified before it was sent to your sailor. It may seem complicated, but hopefully, you'll come to appreciate the limitations faced by the submarine and an understand what you can do to minimize them.

At home, you probably use a 56K modem for dial-up, better yet, you're connected to the internet via DSL or cable modem. In either case, your data is traveling on a “bandwidth,” sometimes called a “pipeline.” Your pipeline is HUGE compared to the submarine’s pipeline which is less than 3K! And that small pipe supports not only all tactical information needed by the boat, but the email transmissions as well.

It’s true that even if the pipe is small, all data would get through if the sub waited long enough. But, the submarine is also limited in the time it's able to stay at communications depth. To get the maximum data through that pipe, the Navy “cleans up” the data before it goes in -- to ensure not only everyone gets their email, but that the boat’s tactical traffic gets delivered. There's no room to spare.

Messages you receive saying your email has been modified are automated notices created after a computer scans the email before sending it to the boat. It returns your email with an attached file showing what has been forwarded to the boat. By reviewing the file, you’ll see in most cases there is no action required of you.

Reasons Why the Navy Might Alter What You Send

(1) EMAILS ARE LIMITED IN SIZE – They can be no larger than 15K. This usually isn't an issue, since the average email ranges in size from 2K - 5K. Unless you get VERY verbose, this limit is rarely exceeded. A rough rule of thumb is that a reasonable sized paragraph is 1K - which means you're able to send about a 15-paragraph email. If too large, the message is rejected and the sender notified. In addition to the rejection notice, the entire original email is sent back to the originator.

(2) EMAILS CANNOT HAVE ATTACHMENTS – Graphics and videos are enormous compared to text, so attachments are not allowed. As a result, the system sends the email, but without the attachment, and sets a “message modified” flag (more about that below).

(3) EMAILS SHOULD NOT BE ‘FORWARDED’ – Frequently, emails which are simply ‘forwarded’ by the sender from another person, have a “caret” (>) preceding each line, showing that the data to the right is forwarded. As emails are sent to and from a pair, consider how long the message becomes when it includes all the previous text sent before. To save bandwidth, the system removes all lines beginning with a caret, counts them, and appends a note to what the sailor receives, indicating that forwarded lines have been removed from the original copy. Since the sailor doesn’t receive exactly what was sent from the originator, the “message modified” flag is set.

(4) EMAILS SHOULD BE IN “PLAIN TEXT” FORMAT – The most common reason for the system to modify emails is their being sent in HTML format. Unknown to most people, emails sent in HTML format contain not only that form, but the Rich Text form, and Plain Text form as well - all three in the same email. Once again, to save bandwidth, the system forwards only the first instance of a message, removes subsequent instances, and sets the “message modified” flag.

“Message Modified” Flags:

After all this scanning is complete, the system checks for flags. If the flag has been set, two things happen:

  1. The system appends a notice to the email sent to the boat, informing the sailor it was modified from its original form. The note indicates what caused the modification.
  2. An automated message is sent back to the sender, notifying that the email was modified and providing a brief explanation of why. It also attaches a copy of exactly what was sent to the boat, so you as the originator, can see what the recipient will see. This way, you can decide if you should take action to forward any critical information that might have been omitted.

Please know these notices are (a) 100% automated, (b) provided as a courtesy, (c) do NOT create additional work for those processing email aboard or on shore, and (d) IN NO WAY, affect the privacy of any email being forwarded to the sub. In 99.9% of the cases, there's no action required.

Now, bear with me for a wee bit more... Getting a ‘modified’ message can work to your advantage because it’s a signal that your email has been sent to the boat. Emails to a sub are stored on a server in Norfolk, waiting to be sent when the sub rises to communications depth and has time to receive emails too (remember tactical info gets priority). It's not until the email travels to the boat that the automated process described above takes place.

While it’s possible to write your message to avoid getting ‘modified’ messages, you could purposely include 1-2 lines with a caret, for example, to trigger a notice to you and you’ll know your message is headed to the boat.

Can’t open the attachment?

Often, I hear from folks saying they can’t open the attachment on a ‘modified’ message, thus unable to see what will be received by their sailor. So far (knock on wood), they're all using Microsoft’s Outlook Express and its default settings block access to attachments (because most viruses arrive via attachments). To remedy this:

  1. click "tools", then "options" and
  2. click the "security" tab
  3. deselect the box blocking access to attachments
  4. click "OK" to exit.

REJECTED Email:

As with any mail system, the Sailor Mail system receives a large number of email containing viruses and does its best to avoid sending them to sailors. The system automatically rejects these email back to originators, letting them know their system might be infected. If you receive a notice of rejected mail, it’s probably because a virus grabbed your address randomly as its “Sender,” since they are often programmed to do so (then the hacker cannot be found). Just delete the message and try again.

AOL users:

AOL is unique to all internet service providers (ISP's) in that they have a unique way of packaging email. AOL insists on attaching additional data onto each email it sends, which is stripped off by the Navy’s system. As a result, if you're an AOL user, you'll always receive the ‘modified’ messages, regardless of what you do with your settings.

INCREDIMAIL users:

If you use the fancy backgrounds (and pictures) provided by Incredimail, you might want to think of not doing so if you send a lot of email to a submarine. The reason is that Incredimail adds an extra blank section at the top of all email causing every message you send to a sub to be changed. The Navy software has been specifically modified to support Incredimail users, but there may still be occasions when what gets transferred to the submarine isn't what you'd intended.

YAHOO email users:

I've received several requests from users of Yahoo Email, asking how to configure their system so they're sending in plain text mode. Here's the process, but please note that you don't have to make the change. Since all modifications are 100% automated, it's no inconvenience if you do or do not send using plain text.

  1. log into your Yahoo email account
  2. click "Mail Options" in the upper right
  3. click "general preferences"
  4. in roughly in the center of the page, is text on "composing E-mails"
  5. select the "plain text" option.

“SPECIAL MESSAGES”

In the event of an emergency within your family, such as critical illness/injury or death, you must notify the American Red Cross through the national headquarters in Washington, DC (1-888-272-7337). You may also utilize their website It is important that you provide complete identification of the serviceman and the name of the ship (i.e., rate is HM1(SS), full name, name of command, etc). The Red Cross will verify this information and pass it to the ship by message. Granting of emergency leave will depend largely on the recommendation of the Red Cross, the current operational commitment of the ship, and the availability of adequate transportation. The key point to identify to the Red Cross is why the serviceman’s presence is needed. We can take no action on emergency leave without a Red Cross report of a situation. Note: Special Messages are normally sent only when the death involves a member of the immediate family or family of the spouse. Immediate family as defined by the Naval Military Personnel Manual is, father, mother, person standing in loco parentis (member raised by an aunt or uncle, etc.), spouse, children, brother, sister or only living relative.

The following information is generally required for Special Messages pertaining to births, deaths, and serious illness/injury. Keep in mind that emergencies or serious situations must be handled through the American Red Cross.

BIRTH

Who is calling: ______Phone Number: ______

To whom is message being sent:______

Service member attached to: full name of boat & crew color

Wife’s name: ______

Baby’s Name: ______Baby’s Sex: M / F Baby’s Weight: ____lbs ___ oz

Baby’s Length: ______Baby’s Hair Color: ______Baby’s Eyes: ______

Time of Birth: ______Date of Birth: ______Place of Birth:______

Hospital Phone Number: ______Information Verified With:______

Condition of Baby (Good, unless medical complications):______

Condition of Mother (Good, unless medical complications): ______

DEATH

Who is calling:______Relation:______Phone Number:______

To whom is message being sent: ______

Service member attached to: full name of boat & crew color

Name of deceased: ______Age: ______

Relationship of deceased to service member:______

Place of death (city/state):______

Hospital taken to: ______Hospital phone number: ______

Date/Time of death: ______Cause of death: ______

Date of funeral: ______Funeral Home:______Phone: ______

Burial to take place at: ______Date of burial: ______

Immediate family in area (support available): ______

Relationship: ______

SERIOUS ILLNESS/INJURY

Who is calling: ______Relation: ______Phone number:______

To whom is message being sent: ______

Service member attached to: full name of boat & crew color

Name of patient: ______Age: ______

Relationship of patient to service member: ______

Has the patient or the patient’s next of kin authorized release of info to the member: yes / no

Place of illness (location of hospital or other): ______Phone number: ______

Name of doctor: ______Phone number: ______

Condition: ______Prognosis: ______

Hospital admission time and date: ______

Expected time of hospitalization: ______

If this message concerns a service member’s wife, indicate who is caring for children, if any.