Photo essay: inspecting the mail

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CAMP STRYKER, Iraq (AFNS) --  A team from the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron must inspect mail that comes into Baghdad that is improperly labeled, doesn't have a return address or gets lost in the system.  The Iraqi government returns the mail to the Joint Military Mail Terminal, or JMMT,  on good faith, but the military units here have to take necessary precautions because the mail has left the military postal system. 

When the JMMT gets the mail back from the Iraqi government it is x-rayed, inspected by military working dogs and then inspected by the 447th ECES emergency management flight for suspicious and/or hazardous materials. The Airmen, armed with chemical suits and hazardous material sensors, make their way downrange in teams of three, where the mail is stored and they then run tests on the packages for radiological, chemical and biological materials. The inspection process is a joint effort between the emergency management team, readiness, the fire department, and biological engineers.

View inspecting the mail slideshow.