Courtesy Photo | U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan C. Whynott, a postal clerk with the 510th...... read more read more
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By U.S. Army Sgt. Derek Nelson,
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LIGHTNING, Afghanistan - “All mail handlers report to the post office … all mail handlers report to the post office.” It’s the familiar call to the service members serving on Forward Operating Base Lightning. Mail has arrived.
Faces light up as representatives from each section on the FOB gather to receive their mail. They appear from nowhere, surrounding the mail truck in moments. They sort through packages and envelopes to get mail for their troops. The smiles on their faces are the result of the postal team’s efforts to bring in the mail.
“There is nothing better than to see a smiling soldier’s face when you come up with a truck full of mail” said U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan C. Whynott, a native of Arlington, Texas, currently a postal clerk with the 510th Human Resources Company at FOB Lightning.
The clerks go out of their way to find opportunities to improve life at the FOB.
“We volunteer with a lot of the morale efforts [here], such as the sporting events, working the [post exchange], and trying to help boost any kind of morale.” said U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jason A. Garcia, a native of Las Vegas, currently serving as the non-commissioned officer in charge of the FOB Lightning post office.
These Naval postal clerks take the Navy motto, Don’t Tread on Me, to heart. The motto is the rallying cry of the Union Jack, which is flown by all Navy ships at war. The flag symbolizes unity and the mail clerks have applied it to their mission.
“Don’t Tread on Me, to me, is a symbol of unity within the FOB,” said Whynott. “We continue to help support the morale of the soldiers, so that they, in return, can continue the fight against terrorism here in Afghanistan.”
This sense of unity is the key to FOB Lightning’s postal team’s success.
In order to get mail to the FOB, a convoy must be assembled and drive to neighboring FOB Gardez. There, postal clerks pick up mail headed to FOB Lightning. Postal clerks convoy to FOB Gardez twice each week.
“With the war on terrorism going on here in Afghanistan, we don’t always have enough people to escort [us],” said Whynott. “Luckily, we have quite a few units here who sometimes give us their free time … they escort us over to FOB Gardez to help boost morale”
Postal clerks provide both incoming and outgoing mail services. They go out of their way to support each customer who walks into their office.
“When a customer wants to ship something home, we make sure all of the paperwork is correctly annotated,” said Garcia. “We also give them options for the fastest and least-expensive way to get the mail to its destination.”
Postal clerks also help their customers set up online accounts so they can print labels and buy stamps online.
According to Whynott, Logar and Paktya provincial postal clerks handled more than 1.2 million pounds of incoming mail and sold more than $70,000 worth of postage from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.
Handling large volumes of mail is not an easy task, but the unwavering resolve of postal clerks across Afghanistan continues to provide mail services abroad.
This kind of resolve can be found everyday in the FOB Lightning post office. One example of such actions can be found in the way that clerks deal with what Garcia calls “frustrated mail.”
Frustrated mail is mail with an incomplete shipping address. Often, mail arrives for a soldier without the soldier’s unit information. The post office has worked out a system to track down the intended recipients and ensure they get their mail.
“I have a distribution list,” said Garcia. “When I have frustrated mail, I e-mail the mail handlers … they look through their personnel and send the proper recipient over to receive their mail.”
Mail clerks work with individuals to resolve issues and prevent future delays in getting mail.
FOB Lightning mail clerks are also responsible for FOBs Chamkani and Wilderness mail. These responsibilities, like the mail, continue year-round.
Many citizens of FOB Lightning are looking ahead to the expected snowfall. It is a chance to breathe as operations slow down. But, the mail clerks assure everyone, “the mail is still [going to] get to where it needs to go.”
Mail delivered, morale boosted, mission accomplished. Hooyah!
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2011 12:58 |
| Story ID: | 63308 |
| Location: | PAKTYA PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 206 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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