Airmen provide 1st class postal service to thousands

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ken Hall
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNEWS) --  Servicemembers here enjoy some of the fastest, most reliable mail service in the history of armed conflict. And when it is time to return home, they can also lighten their load by mailing their gear instead of lugging it through the airlines.

'Combat Postal' Airmen with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing processed 328,668 pounds of incoming and 85,100 pounds of outgoing mail during the week of April 9 to 15. The Airmen are deployed on four-month AEF tours with the 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron, or serving six-month 'In-Lieu-Of' tours with the Army's 22nd Personnel Services Battalion and Air Force's 732nd Expeditionary Support Squadron.

The incoming mail process is highly intricate, said Tech. Sgt. Amanda Snyder, the mail control activity chief. Contractors unload the daily airmail under her and Senior Airman Kevin Goldman's quality control oversight. Together, they ensure the base is getting the correct mail and inspect for damage as contractors offload pallet after pallet and truck it over to the Joint Military Mail Terminal. Sergeant Snyder is deployed from the 2nd Air Postal Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on her third deployment -- the others were to Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait.

At the terminal, contractors separate the mail by Army or Air Force zip code. Mail for the base's approximately 4,000 Airmen and 25,000 Soldiers, as well as mail for numerous forward operating bases, transits the JMMT. Postal Airmen here run one of the biggest postal operations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

After mail is separated, Detroit native Staff Sgt. Kelvin Brantley and Baltimore hometowner Senior Airman Brandon Reynolds sort the Air Force mail into bins for 27 Air Force unit mail clerks, and 17 ILO Airmen do the same thing with the Army mail.

"Our Airmen are doing great work keeping the postal system running strong," said Lt. Col. Craig Wilcox, the 332nd ECS commander. With his four Airmen responsible for seeing nearly half a million pounds of mail come and go each week, he couldn't be happier with their performance. "We often take the reliability of our mail service for granted -- sure as the sun rises and sets -- but it's the dedication of our Airmen and contractors that keeps the wing's Airmen happily connected to their loved ones and friends back home."

The outgoing process is even more complex. 'Free' mail weighing less than 16 ounces is processed by contractors, official and certified mail by Army personnel, and all personal packages over 16 ounces are processed by 24 more ILO Airmen at two locations who prepare it for handling by JMMT contractors for the next outgoing flight.

Albuquerque, N.M., native 1st Lt. Lewis Taylor is deployed here from the 65th Communications Squadron at Lajes Field, Azores, and serves as officer in charge of Army/Air Force post offices. He oversees the ILO Airmen, and says he is proud of them.

"We're the first group of Airmen to work postal in an 'ILO' setting," he said.

"We've also decreased the number of postal claims from 30 in 2006 to just three for 2007," added East Side postmaster Tech. Sgt. Victor Negron, who deployed from the 374th CS at Yokota AB, Japan. "We're open seven days a week, and we put in about 58 hours a week while the doors are open and another 14 when they're closed." Sergeant Negron hails from Jackson Heights, N.Y.

More than just moving the mail, the Airmen are also responsible for the safety and efficiency of mail service and personnel, and they accomplish both with thorough inspections of mail content, said superintendent Master Sgt. Cedrick Palmore who is deployed from the 435th CS at Ramstein AB, Germany.

"Our Airmen have posted a 95 percent improvement, removing restricted/contraband items," the master sergeant said. "It's important to stop these items because they hold up the entire delivery process and are potentially dangerous."

Equally valuable to customers is combat postal's helping hand during redeployment. Everyone's done the "bag drag" before, and most have wished for fewer bags to haul. Policy changes are helping further reduce what must be hauled to and from the AOR by servicemembers. They just have to follow the rules.

"If your orders authorize excess baggage, you may transport them by either hand-carrying them or mailing them," said Maj. Brad McDonald, comptroller for the 332nd AEW. "In order to be reimbursed, you must provide a copy of the receipt and the weight, but you will not be reimbursed for anything over your authorized excess allowance."

When customers ship their gear home now, they'll do it from an improved facility. During their tour of duty here, postal Airmen have not only set records in the extraordinary amount of mail they've processed, they've improved the process in an extensive remodeling of the inspection and handling areas to increase efficiency and throughput. They're here to help, and they've demonstrated what motivated Airmen can do.

The Army had nothing but praise for the ILO postal Airmen.

"They're the most professional Airmen I've had the pleasure to work with," said 22nd PSB Command Sgt. Maj. Earlene Lavender. "They've made huge improvements in both efficiency and throughput ... they'll never know just how positive an impact they've made on morale in the field."

The battalion deputy commander concurred. "They've far exceeded our expectations," said Maj. Michael McTigue. "These 43 ILO Airmen replaced some 70-odd Soldiers this past October and processed mail through the four highest months of mail volume since the war began ... truly impressive."

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