Finding the email address
of a Navy person
Contents
Is there a central email directory for Navy people?
There is no central email directory for Navy people. Here are some
suggestions for finding an email address of a Navy person. Words
in brackets < > indicate the word or words you need to
type in.
- Contact the person by some other means and ask if he or she
has an email address.
- If your internet service includes telnet, you can telnet to
nic.ddn.mil and then login
as <whois> and follow the instructions.
- Send email to mailserv@ds2.internic.net
with a blank subject line and the words "whois Name"
as the only line in the text, without the quotes, and
substituting the name you are looking for. You will receive a
file with some suggestions.
- If your internet service includes a World Wide Web client,
you can open or go to http://ds.internic.net/. If
your internet service includes a gopher client, you can open or
go to gopher://ds.internic.net/.
In either case you then follow the links or menus to directory
and database services and then look for the various search
options.
Does the Navy issue email accounts to Sailors?
No. Many Navy offices and commands do have email capability, but this capability has been provided for the organization to accomplish its mission. These are not personal accounts. Many Sailors who are stationed in shore commands have signed up with local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to contract service for themselves and their families. An official email account usually is identified with the domain name of navy.mil. Personal, commercial accounts usually are identified by domains ending in .com, .net, or .org.
Can I send email to a Sailor aboard ship?
Yes, it is possible, in some cases, to send email to Navy people aboard ship when you know what ship the Sailor is on. Primarily, this is done through the use of USO-grams.
There is not always continuous email capability to ships and no "one-on-one" personal email. Limited bandwidth, the necessity to reserve resources for tactical, warfighting, and official administrative data, problems with electronic interference, security considerations can cause breaks in the service. Also, please note that there is no central directory of e-mail addresses for Navy ships.
Are there other means by which to communicate with a Sailor aboard ship?
Yes. Another means is the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS). MARS is run entirely by volunteers and has been providing communications between Sailors and their loved ones for many, many years. More information is available at the Navy-Marine Corps MARS Telecommunications System National Home Page.
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