Air Force Master Sgt. Albert DiRisio sorts incoming packages at Ramstein's Northside post office Sept 23, 2008. Ramstein has seen seven straight years of record quantities of mail due at least in part to the rise of Internet shopping. Approximately 5 tons showed up on this particular day. DiRisio is the postmaster for the Northside post office. (Ben Bloker / Stars and Stripes)
Predictions that the Internet would spell the end of the U.S. Postal Service are being proved wrong every day in American military communities abroad.
It might be true that e-mail has cut down on personal letters, military postal officials say, but online purchases have more than made up for that. Especially when it comes to volume.
The U.S. military delivered 225 million pounds of mail overseas in fiscal year 2006 — setting a record. But that was blown away by a total of 278 million pounds in fiscal year 2007, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Mary Gould, chief of transportation for the Military Postal Service Agency. And 214 million pounds had already been delivered through July of this year.
If that trend continues, it won’t be long before the military is paying to bring about 1 million pounds of mail a day to servicemembers and their families overseas.
And pay it does. To the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The Navy spends about $100 million a year to deliver mail overseas. The Air Force spent $70.5 million for that purpose in fiscal year 2007. Multiple attempts to get similar figures from the Army were not successful. But since it supports more personnel overseas, the Army likely pays more than the others.
The services are allocated money by Congress for handling the mail because the U.S. Postal Service takes it only as far as a handful of collection centers in the States. In doing so, it takes all the money that customers pay for postage.
The military pays to take it the rest of the way. About 4,700 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Department of Defense civilians play a part in delivering mail from 453 military post offices in 93 countries. But much of the long hauling is done by contractors.
Faye Johnson, chief of operations for the MPSA, said the amount of mail sent overseas can vary dramatically day by day. But it’s not uncommon to see mail take up at least some space on 500 commercial flights headed overseas a day. Most mail is sent by plane, but some comes via ships hired for the same purpose.
One-sided relationshipThe amount of letters and packages sent to military communities overseas is about four times that of the mail heading back to the States.
Jeffrey Gibbs, who has been working in the mail business for the Navy for 30 years, said that phenomenon is nothing new.
"That’s always been the case," he said, "People [overseas] ask for things back home."
Gibbs, who works for the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, said the Navy in Europe hasn’t really seen much of an increase in mail volume in the last several years. He attributes that to a shrinking population overseas. Sigonella’s population, for instance, is about half of what it was a decade ago, he said.
But other operations have had to enact a series of manpower and technological innovations to keep up.
"Postal agencies across the globe are experiencing a growing workload due to the increase in e-commerce shopping," Tom Saunders, a public affairs specialist for the Army’s Installation Management Command-Europe, wrote in an e-mail. "The increase in online shopping has changed the battlefield as far as how we go about providing the soldiers, civilians and families in Europe. It has challenged us to find more efficient ways to perform our duties to meet the demands of that type of mail."
That’s evidenced in places such as RAF Lakenheath in England, where the 48th Communications Squadron has added a night shift so airman can stack up packages for customers to pick up the next day.
"However, the sheer volumes are still a challenge," Master Sgt. Kirk Baldwin, the base postmaster, wrote in an e-mail. "Because our post office was designed prior to the advent of online shopping, our shelf space is completely filled every night."
Online shopping doesn’t account for all the mail, but a quick survey at the post office at Aviano Air Base found several airmen who admit to pointing and clicking to get some mail.
"You don’t want to wear the same thing everyone else is," said Master Sgt. Patrick Adams, who said clothes are only one type of item he looks for online. He says he probably gets one or two packages a week.
That could be a light week for some.
While some people might be shopping for clothes at department store sites or books and movies from Amazon.com, Adams also admits to partaking in a newer enterprise: Netflix. Its customers rent movies through the mail, sending back ones they’ve watched in order to receive new ones. Busy customers could be sending or receiving several times a week.
Other postal officials note that many customers can return an online purchase they’re not happy with simply by resealing the box and sending it back. So the military is paying for an unwanted purchase both ways.
But Gould said while the volume of mail keeps increasing, military officials have taken advantage of technology and a variety of creative manpower initiatives to keep pace. And she wouldn’t speculate about any limit on how much the system could deal with.
"If there is one, we have not hit it," she said.
Gould said she would expect there would be an uproar if restrictions were put into place.
"There is not a commander out there, particularly if they are overseas, who would limit what their troops can receive legally," she said.
"We find [mail] to be one of the biggest quality-of-life issues," agreed Gibbs.
Stars and Stripes routinely receives letters complaining about mail service, particularly in downrange locations. But Gould said only about 3 percent of the mail the military delivers sits at a staging area longer than it’s supposed to. And much of that is due to weather or transportation breakdowns.
Of course, with the huge volume of mail the military is processing, even a small percent of delays or problems can affect quite a few people.
"We’re always trying to do it better," Johnson said. "In the military postal world, we are forever changing."
Tips for speedy delivery
Interested in getting your packages and mail quicker? The military is responsible for delivering tons of packages and mail to servicemembers and their families overseas every day. Postal officials offer these tips:
Ensure the package you’re receiving through the military mail system does not list a country on it. U.S. Postal Service sorters can mistakenly direct such mail away from the military to international mail.Packages that are legibly addressed and properly filled out get to their destinations quicker. Those with wrongly listed ZIP codes or other designations might take detours to other parts of the world.If you’re John Smith or have another name shared by dozens of others, a middle initial on mail is a good idea.Pick up packages quickly. Many military post offices have limited space. New mail can’t be delivered if there’s no room for it.Fill out change-of-address forms when you move. The military might eventually track you down. But in the meantime, there’s a lot of mail floating around the system — most of which you won’t care about by the time you get it.Try to get a copy of your address included inside the package as well as on the label outside. That way, if the package exterior is damaged, officials can figure out who material belongs to.Insure valuable items. If contents are damaged or the package never arrives, you’ll get your money back.Deadline datesThe U.S. Postal Service issues deadlines every year to ensure that mail gets back to the States in time. This year, in addition to Christmas mailing deadlines, they’ve added dates for the Nov. 4 national elections.
Presidential election ballots:
Tuesday — those deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and similar locationsOct. 14 — other overseas locationsEighteen states and territories allow ballots to be counted after Election Day, with varying deadlines. Just under half of all states allow voters to fax in ballots. Arizona recently started online voting.Christmas packages/cards:
Nov. 27 — space-available mail overseas to the StatesDec. 4 — parcel airlift mail to StatesDec. 11 — first-class mail/priority mailDec. 18 — express mail military service— U.S. Postal Service
