Stateside security scares result
in mail delivery delays for military
By Sandra Jontz, Washington
bureau
WASHINGTON — Military postal customers and their families can help minimize
anticipated mail service delays by using a bit of common sense, a military postal official
said.
"Don’t send anything that can leave a powdery residue," said Capt.
Eugene DuCom, deputy commander of the Military Postal Service Agency. "Don’t
send [laundry] detergent or coffee creamer … or anything that might spill and leave a
white powder. That will only halt the process."
There are sure to be mail service delays in the wake of the weeks’ worth of
anthrax poisonings plaguing postal workers and media employees through the mail.
Cases have been reported in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Washington, D.C.
So far, three people have died from inhalation anthrax; four have contracted the
usually-fatal disease; 15 have contracted cutaneous [skin] anthrax; and about 30 have been
exposed, but show no symptoms.
The mail delays, however, aren’t likely to be debilitating, DuCom said. Just an
inconvenience.
"There will be delays, but the mail won’t simply stop," he said.
The holdup in mail is because of the decreased number of commercial flights, added
security measures and the closings of some post offices in the United States.
In the coming days, every household in America, every rental Post Office box and all
military APO and FPO addresses will receive post cards from the United States Postal
Service giving hints of what should be considered suspicious mail, and what actions
customers can take.
On Wednesday, Postmaster General Jack Potter outlined new safety measures to protect
both postal employees and customers.
"We are taking concrete steps immediately to protect employees and the public
through education, investigation, intervention and prevention," Potter said.
The safety procedures at stateside USPS post offices include the following:
- Adopt and deploy new technology, mainly irradiation, to neutralize anthrax that might
move through the mail. Irradiaton is being used to fight bacteria in the food supply.
- Provide postal employees protective masks and gloves.
- Establish field command centers so employees can notify centers if they seek hospital
admission.
- Change procedures to clean mail sorting equipment and install vacuuming equipment
exclusively to clean equipment to absorb dust and other particles.
- Use stronger antibacterial cleaning chemicals.
On military installations nationwide, few procedural changes will be made at post
offices, which are run by the individual services, DuCom said.
All, however, must abide by certain procedures set up by the Military Postal Service
Agency, run by the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Postal Service.
Some military installations already use bomb- and drug-sniffing dogs as part of their
routine mail inspections and likely will continue to do so, DuCom said.
Each postal clerk has gone through refresher security practices, he said. Other
measures are left up to individual commands.
Mail going to servicemembers deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the name
given to the U.S. war on terrorism, also will be carefully scrutinized.
No matter where troops are deployed, they have mail service, DuCom said. It might now
always be a postal facility where they can buy stamps or money orders, but the military
always provides access to mail.
The Pentagon already has suspended the "Any Servicemember" and
"Operation Dear Abby" programs, in which people write letters and greetings to
anonymous servicemembers deployed worldwide.
For more general information about mail security, go to www.usps.com.
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