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Getting the Mail Out

Jun-21-2006 » Filed Under: General Military

Written by Spc. Yolanda Moreno Leon

MOSUL, Iraq (17 June 2006) -- Being away from family and friends for a year or more is tough for anyone, but being a deployed Soldier in a war zone and with limited contact with loved one raises it to a whole new level.

A Soldier uses any way possible to stay in touch with loved ones, phone calls, internet, but the most popular is still regular mail. Receiving a letter in the mail puts a smile on a Soldiers face and boosts morale.

For Soldiers of 3rd Platoon, 795th Adjutant General Company located on Forward Operating Base Diamondback, Mosul, Iraq, getting mail to Soldiers is a job they take seriously.

“We are here to get the mail to Soldiers,” said Staff Sgt. Daryl Brandt, Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Custodian Postal Effects/Finance Office, a native of Leavenworth, Kansas. “Mail is an important morale builder for the troops, and I think we have done we are very good job in getting the mail delivered.”

According to Staff Sgt. Lee Creason, Operations NCOIC, when the mail comes off the plane, it is broken down to each individual unit and than sorted to be transported to each individual Forward Operating Base (FOB) and Combat out Post (COP).

“We sort mail for FOB Sykes, Q-West, COP Rawah, and a few others,” said Creason. “We are the bench mark for Post Offices in Iraq,” he said.

The post office has two separate sections, “Finance and Operations.” Operations sort all the mail, and Finance is responsible to weigh packages and applying postage for sending mail back to the states.

“Our primary mission here is to get the mail to the troops,” said Creason. “I am also in charge of Finance section; we provide services like insuring packages and certified/registered mail.

We average about 200 Soldiers a day. Each package that a Soldier wants to mail has to be inspected before it can be sent, for safety and security reasons. 3rd Platoon, 795th Adjutant General Company ensures that no one tries to send weapons, ammunition, or Iraqi artifacts to the U.S. without prior approval.

“It is my job to inspect all packages and secure them after I am finished,” said Specialist Nicholas Holcomb, Parcel and Package Inspector, native of Lincoln, Nebraska. “If I find something that can’t be sent home I return it to the Soldier,” he also said.

The tireless efforts of Soldiers of 3rd Platoon, 795th Adjutant General Company, have kept the morale of Soldiers stationed in northern Iraq high, enabling Soldiers to better focus on the mission at hand.

“We have done a really good job here,” said Specialist Holcomb. “People seem happier when receiving a letter, and I am glad we can do our small part to put a smile on Soldiers faces when they have had a bad day.”


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