Election, holiday peak to challenge mail delivery

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. David A. Jablonski
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  The upcoming holiday peak mailing season and national elections may challenge Air Force postal workers, but recent improvements show delivery times are steadily dropping.

Air Force postal officials said Airmen deployed to operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom are receiving mail in nine to 12 days, far below the 16-day standard set by U.S. Central Command officials. Sometimes it is faster.

“The amount of mail arriving in six to eight days is steadily increasing,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jeffery Lane, superintendent of Air Force postal operations and policy.

“This is mainly due to the hard work, dedication and superb effort of our postal professionals,” he said. “They go the extra mile to ensure quality service. Mail service is tied directly to the morale of the troops -- faster delivery service keeps our Airmen connected to family members, friends and close associates back home.”

Postal officials predict the military postal system will be placed under a microscope as they approach the peak mailing period and the national election in November.

Absentee ballots arriving late to servicemembers or election offices, lack of postmarking devices and inadequate forwarding address data or locator service for redeploying troops during the 2000 national election issues linger. The issues have postal workers hustling to assure lawmakers that these problems will not be repeated this fall.

Postal officials said additional charter flights and recent improvements to absentee ballot handling procedures will produce the desired service results on Election Day. These improvements will ensure Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines have the opportunity to cast their votes during this year’s national election.

The U.S. Postal Service is transporting the material in specially marked containers and processing it with Express Mail. Military postal clerks overseas are reporting any ballot material that is delayed because of a delivery or transportation problem. Postal supervisors are checking ballots daily to ensure they are legibly postmarked, in the proper container and dispatched according to procedures.

“Providing quality mail service to our deployed troops is our No. 1 priority,” said Col. Ronnie Hawkins, director of communications operations.

Postal officials have increased the number of charter flights to handle the enormous daily mail volumes from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and San Francisco International Airport, Calif., to Bahrain and Kuwait mail processing centers. Postal workers process a daily average of more than 180,000 pounds of mail -- 145,000 pounds for Iraq and 35,000 pounds headed to Kuwait. More than 5 million pounds of mail destined for deployed members was delivered in July alone.

“This tremendous accomplishment is a true testament of the tireless efforts of our career postal workers and augmentees,” Colonel Hawkins said. “The extra charter flights, superb teamwork and ‘can-do’ attitude displayed by postal workers has brought a sense of satisfaction.”

Although mail delivery times have vastly improved, misaddressed mail is still a concern. Misaddressed mail often contains the name of the foreign city or country, such as Baghdad, Iraq, Kuwait City or Kuwait on the face of the envelope or wrapper. Mail containing a foreign city or country is automatically entered into the international mail system and will be delayed.

Officials can now correct these problems with the help of Airmen.

Deployed Airmen can provide immediate feedback on customer service, transit times or other issues. An electronic questionnaire can be accessed at http://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=ice_main. The survey is an on-going project and the collection process is permanent.

Once the election is over, postal workers must still contend with the holiday peak period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As in past years, additional people may be hired or volunteers solicited at each location based on the commander’s discretion.

“The upcoming peak mailing season and national elections will be a challenge for our military postal workers, but we are confident they will remain vigilant and continue to go the extra mile to improve mail services and the morale of our deployed Airmen and their families and friends back home,” Chief Lane said.