Deployed postal workers help build morale

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ryan Hansen
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  In a deployed environment, morale is very important and comes in many forms, shapes and sizes, but often by mail.

Three Airmen here are responsible for delivering mail to more than 2,500 people.

“We can’t put a number on how many pieces of mail we get, but it’s around 2,600 pounds a day,” said Tech. Sgt. Timothy Hill, 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron postmaster, who is deployed from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.

Every day around 7:30 a.m., the postal team gets word if a plane has arrived at the airmail terminal carrying the morale-building cargo. From there, contractors separate the mail between the Army and Air Force before the Airmen load up their truck with the goods.

“Our postal service is a team effort,” Sergeant Hill said, “and we take pride in what we’re doing.”

Once at the postal facility, the Airmen divide the mail among all of the Air Force units on base.

“We’re the morale builders for this base,” said Airman 1st Class Kristi Knudson, 332nd ECS postal augmentee, who is deployed from Eglin AFB, Fla. “It’s a lot of work, but we get lots of help.”

“We are a part of the mission, and we help with morale,” said Airman Ryan Goldberg, 332nd ECS postal augmentee, who is also deployed from Eglin AFB. “It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s important.”

In the second month of a four-month rotation, the Airmen said the team almost has the delivery system down to a science. However, with the holiday months approaching, they said they believe the mail, which currently averages about 79,000 pounds a month, will increase.

“It’s only going to grow as the holidays approach,” Sergeant Hill said. “During November and December, we’ll probably hit 1 million pounds.”

Besides pickup, delivery, loading and unloading, the postal team also deals with a lot of federal postal regulations. Besides abiding by all of those rules, they are always watching for suspicious packages and questionable mail items.

“We’re constantly on the lookout for various things,” Sergeant Hill said. “If we see a potential hazard we’ll call in the (proper) people to come over and look at it.”