Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Jillian Grady | 200129-N-JX361-1055 DIEGO GARCIA, British Indian Ocean Territory (January 29, 2020)...... read more read more
Diego Garcia is one of the Navy’s most remote duty stations. There are no malls or department stores here, so most service members and civilians stationed here regularly order items in the mail. Due to this, the Logistics Specialists (LS) onboard U.S. Navy Support Facility (NSF) Diego Garcia, who work as postal clerks, are used to hearing one question, “Is there mail call today?”
The amount of mail that arrives in Diego Garcia varies. Some weeks we’ll have no planes make it out to the island, meaning no mail for those eagerly waiting for it, but when the planes do come in, up to 20,000 pounds of mail will arrive in a week.
The LSs who work at Diego Garcia’s post office are responsible for the sorting and distributing of post and packages, and the routing, directing, and transportation of mail. They also maintain security for registered, certified, and other special classes of mail.
The day starts early on mail call days. At around 0500, one of the postal clerks will drive to pick up the mail at air cargo. They’ll load the trucks and bring the mail back to the post office while the other clerks prepare for offloading. Upon offloading, each piece of mail is stamped and sorted. After all this is finished, mail call begins. Each NSF department, ship, or tenant command has mail orderlies who come to collect the mail. From there the mail is distributed to the island and the ships.
“Seeing everyone get mail makes me happy,” said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Lynie Borromeo about mail call.
Teamwork is important at the post office and everyone does their part.
“Each postal worker has their own role to play on island,” said Logistics Specialist Seaman Apprentice Marcus Garcia. “Whether it is registered mail or working the front desk or teaching new mail orderlies how to pick up their commands’ packages, we all contribute to the mission.”
There are unique aspects of the postal clerk job here on Diego Garcia. Since Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), the LSs have to keep in mind both U.S. postal laws and BIOT customs when it comes to what can be accepted and sent off from the island.
The post office greatly contributes to the mission here in Diego Garcia, providing a necessary service even though it can, at times, be challenging.
“By ensuring that personnel on the island receive their mail we raise the spirits, for what to many, can be an otherwise challenging time period of isolated duty,” said Garcia. “It is our own way of contributing to the overall morale of our Sailors during their time on Diego Garcia.”
| Date Taken: | 02.04.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2020 03:53 |
| Story ID: | 361929 |
| Location: | DIEGO GARCIA, IO |
| Web Views: | 1,045 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Mail Call Diego Garcia: The Most Isolated Post Office in the World, by PO3 Jillian Grady, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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