Photo By Daniel Rangel | Army Sgt. Maj. Dorris Dudley-Ewing, Army Materiel Command, from Detroit, packs her...... read more read more
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By Army Pfc. Daniel M. Rangel
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Service members sending packages home have delivery options at the Army Post Office, according to 502nd Human Resource Company Soldiers.
From the more secure registered mail to the speedy priority mail, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jose Cavazos, 502nd HR Co., Fort Hood, Texas, explained the different types of postage available.
"Registered mail is the most secure way to send anything," Cavazos said. "Once it leaves, whoever is taking it, signs for it. And when it gets to wherever it's going, they hand it to somebody else who signs for it until it gets to its final destination."
Customers sending sensitive items are encouraged to use registered mail, but no method of delivery is fool proof, according to postal officials.
"Like anything, stuff gets lost. There's no perfect system," Cavazos said. "But with registered mail, there's always a paper trail to show where it went. Somebody is going to have it and have signed for it up until the point where they give it to you."
Registered packages are also securely stored in locked cages and handled with greater care than other methods of delivery. For those sensitive items that don't react well to the light or heat of the X-ray machine, such as unexposed film, registered mail is the only reliable way to go.
"Every package that comes through here, except for registered mail, is X-rayed," said Nakia Rayson, Bagram APO civilian finance clerk.
Registered mail has a delivery time of four-to-six weeks. However, there are faster options, which include the less expensive certified mail or the much faster priority mail.
"A step below registered mail may be what we call certified mail," Cavazos said. "That also has a tracking number on it, although that's a little more difficult to track. There isn't a paper trail for signatures all the way through."
Cavazos explained that insured mail is handled much the same as certified mail.
"The only difference (between insured mail and certified mail) is when you insure it you're paying for insurance, so if it gets lost you're going to get some money back," Cavazos said.
Matthew Schneider, Operations Supervisor, a contractor for the Bagram APO, recommended ensuring all high-value items for those who still have receipts.
"If there is anything of value and you have proof-of-purchase on it, just pay for the insurance on it. It's not that much and it'll be well worth it because if something does happen and it get's lost or stolen you can always make a claim for it and get your money back," Schneider said, operations supervisor for Worldwide Language Resources.
However, if budgeting is of greater concern, much of the mail can be sent free.
"Free mail is any letters, papers or documents, thumb drives, disposable cameras, and home-made CDs and DVDs, all those things as long as they're not over 13 ounces," Rayson said.
Mail from small to manila-sized envelopes can be marked 'free mail' and be delivered through the Military Postal Service.
"Free mail takes about two weeks," Rayson said. "As long as you don't put any type of insurance or anything else on it, MPS can go free."
Space Available Mail is another option for postal customers. SAM delivery times are two-to-four weeks. The fastest of all the shipping options is priority mail, which takes seven-to-10 days to reach its final destination.
TA-50 gear, which are mail approved items, can be sent by registered mail and should only be shipped upon approval of a service member's chain-of-command or NCO support channel, said Army 1st Sgt. Jon Y. Williams, 502nd HR Co.
"TA-50 can be sent. The only things that are prohibited are items that are NBC-related from protective masks to canisters, from (JLIST) items to overshoes. No piece of NBC gear can be sent," Williams said. "It's going to be the leader's responsibility to ensure that they're inspecting their Soldiers and giving the thumbs up that it's okay to go ahead and send their TA-50 back. I don't think it's a thing that Soldiers should arbitrarily do on their own."
APO managers also named some of the other customs restrictions, regulations and reasons why certain items can't be sent.
"No ammo, no little war trophies," Schneider said. "Aerosols, they can't be sent because they might explode on the flight. Knives, if the blade is longer than six inches, need to be sent registered mail. The antique weapons from the bazaar, you can (also) send them home registered mail. The same thing (applies) with the furs."
"Anything that looks like a weapon cannot be mailed home, even a toy water gun cannot be mailed home," Cavazos said. "If it should happen to make it through the post office wherever they mailed it, when it gets here it will be X-rayed. All the X-ray machine will do is show the outline of what looks like a weapon. Then we have to pull that package out."
Cavazos explains how the Army proceeds when there is an issue with a package.
"A memorandum will be generated that will be signed by our commander and it will go down to the Soldier and the unit," Cavazos said. "But (postal workers) will open the package and pull out whatever is not supposed to be mailable. They'll put a memorandum inside the package, they'll seal it back up and they'll mail it back out."
Cavazos ensures packages that have had issues will be delivered, although there will likely be a delay.
Any delays in packages getting home are not due to any lack of effort from the Soldiers and civilians at the APOs in Afghanistan. Even the smaller forward operating bases will find 502nd Soldiers serving them on a regular basis.
"There may be some place that's so small that it doesn't support having an actual post office there," Cavazos said. "So we send a postal team out to them for a day or two; service that area, then bring all the mail back and mail it for them."
Mail movement is a 24-7 endeavor. Once service members have decided how they want to send their mail, they need to keep in mind the proper protocol at their local APO and be prepared for their transaction.
"The only things we accept are cash or the Eagle Cash Card, no debit cards, no credit cards, no personal checks, no pogs," Cavazos said. "Somebody will come in with a box and they'll get it inspected, then they'll stand in line and notice that they don't have any cash or the Eagle Cash Card."
Many who forget to bring the proper funds also tend to leave unattended packages at the APO to hold their place in line while retrieving those funds.
"That's probably the worst thing you can do is leave a package," Williams said. "Because then we've got to identify it as a suspicious package."
In order to be prepared at your local APO, there are preparations service members can make to speed the process.
"When they come in with their boxes, it should be unsealed because when they get in it has got to be inspected," Cavazos said. "Once they pass inspection then (postal workers) will help them seal it up."
No package over 70 pounds will be accepted.
The size limit for any package, with or without an oversized charge, is 130 inches, which can run into a lot of money. And all oversized packages must be sent through SAM. But if a package is well within the limits, the cost of sending a package home is reasonable.
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.25.2008 11:21 |
| Story ID: | 16673 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 974 |
| Downloads: | 286 |
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