Photo By Spc. Allison Churchill | Humberto Dominguez, Forward Operating Base Delta Post Office employee, searches a box...... read more read more
By Spc. Allison Churchill
41st Fires Brigade Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – A team of less than 20 civilians and Soldiers are providing postal services to residents here and at Patrol Base Shocker, located in northern Wasit province near the town of Badrah.
While they can't control the speed in which mail gets to Forward Operating Base Delta, the team doesn't waste time once they have it.
Mail coming from the U.S. makes several stops on its way here, said Charles Keahey, Direct Service Mail supervisor, Joint Military Management Terminal.
The U.S. Postal Service ships the letters or packages to the Armed Forces Europe headquarters in New York, where it enters the Military Postal Service. Once there is enough mail for a full plane-load, the mail flies to Kuwait.
From Kuwait, the mail flies to Tallil, and then, weather permitting, to FOB Delta.
Once Keahey's team receives the mail, they sort it by unit. If the mail arrives and is sorted early enough, mail clerks can pick up and distribute mail to their Soldiers that day. Keahey said the hand off time is never more than 24 hours.
Outgoing mail flies to Balad then Kuwait and then onto the MPS station closest to its destination, said Keahey.
The post office itself is manned by 11 Kellogg, Brown and Root employees, eight of which are prior military, said Keahey. Six Soldiers from the Wiesbaden-based 3rd Platoon, 147th Adjutant General Postal Company, perform inspections of the unit mail rooms across the FOB, deliver mail to Patrol Base Shocker and maintain the platoon's vehicles.
KBR acquired the contract to provide mail service in September 2007, said Keahey, a Killeen, Texas resident. Keahy brings more than 31 years of postal experience to FOB Delta: 21 years for the Army, seven years at USPS in Killeen and three-and-a-half years for KBR.
The staff strives to provide great customer service, said Keahey.
"If the customer is satisfied, we're happy," he said. Being deployed and prior military, the KBR staff understands the importance of getting mail from home.
Military postal services used to be run by Soldiers, said Sgt. 1st Class James Burke, 3rd Plt. sergeant, 147th AG Postal Co. As the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the Soldiers with the Army Skill Identifier F5 – postal operations – are needed to do their military occupational specialty instead of postal operations, said Burke.
Four of the Soldiers in the platoon, who have the postal skill identifier, inspect unit mail rooms and deliver mail to PB Shocker. The other two Soldiers are mechanics who maintain the platoon's vehicles. Delivering mail to the small outpost is rewarding work for the postal service Soldiers.
"There were 50 to 60 people waiting at 2 a.m. – everyone was waiting up for the mail," said Pvt. William Etienne, an Orlando, Fla., native, on an arrival at PB Shocker. He said although he and the non-commissioned officer who flies with him often have more than 1,000 pounds of mail on the helicopter, there usually isn't a shortage of volunteers to help download the bags. Etienne said they usually make the trip once a week, staying overnight to collect mail to bring back to FOB Delta.
Although the weather can cause frustration, the post office staff is proud of the work they do.
"The United States government and Department of Defense leaders over here are committed to providing quality, timely mail," said Burke. "It's good to be part of the process."
"People just want to get their mail. It's important and we try to meet expectations in a reasonable amount of time," said Keahey.
| Date Taken: | 08.08.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2008 00:20 |
| Story ID: | 22291 |
| Location: | AL KUT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 110 |
| Downloads: | 89 |
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