European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1959, Darmstadt, Hesse                                8 30 am in Aschaffenbur pfc John Christian addresses letter and package to his father at Home. 9 1q am Aschaffenbur mail clerk up 4 Frank Werr left Jakes package and letter both bound for Hampton va., via air. Mail. 9 30 am John s letter goes in proper Box at Aschaffenbur Apo. 11 45 am mail leaves Aschaffenbur for Frankfurt. 12 10 pm with an armed Gua dub Ard mail truck passes through a German Village in route to Frankfurt Forfi Naper Erkd Overr at the army operated 28th base Post office. 1 20 pm Christian s letter is put into Virginia Pouch at the 28th. 2 40 pm bags Are entered on Manifest and loaded for departure for Rhine main and commercial . Flight. 3 30 pm mail is assigned to air lines at Rhine main. 4 35 Preh bags carrying Christian s letter and package Are loaded aboard a commercial plane scheduled for 5 30 pm Takeoff to . Thursday july 23, \9s9 nrfei3 army postal service in Al  the German run despot have " teamed up to launch operation fast mail a scheme devised by amid postal officials to get mail to and from major locations in Germany in the most expeditious fashion. In addition . Commercial airlines Arenow bringing in and carrying out air mail from four major locations in Germany. A letter or parcel bearing1 air mail Post age for example that is mailed today in Munich will be in new York around noon tomorrow according to maj Michael Duda of ft., Wayne ind., staff postal officer Atusa eur he. ,. Similarly on internal mail an Ordinary letter dispatched from Nurnberg to an Apo address in Heidelberg will go on the ,. Bur Despo St mail car linked with a fast sex press train that makes the run in eight hours. The fast mail scheme utilizing the bund e Spost mail system to transport letter pouches was worked out by army postal and Bunde Spost officials. The Arrny-o.p-. Crated mail cars will continue to be used Between All major City locations in Ger Many on a one a Day basis at night As in the past. The Bunde Spost Pouch system supplements the army operated mail car sys tem and reduces the transit time  diary letter mail Between major location sin Germany by 12 to 24 hours. For example mass modern army sup ply. System has turned to the Apo to handle nearly All of its mailable1 items rather than depend on trucks and vans for expediting the material. If a helicopter maintenance Crew needs a part in a hurry and it s Only available in the states and mailable it can arrive at the destination i about 72 hours if it is mailed As air rail. The military postal service is playing a very important part in the direct support of the army and air Force world wide Mission in both the Supply and communications Fields i v la addition to using the Bunde Spost sys tem within Germany Ordinary Apo letter mail to and from Apos in Italy is now be ing put on International trains from Fratrik Furt to All Apo addresses in Italy and Apos in Italy Are dispatching the same Type of mail direct to Frankfurt by the same system. Also foreign airlines Are being used to transport Ordinary air mail to and from locations in Europe and those Middle East areas not serviced by . Commercial airlines. Additional routes have been established within the past year to expedite the movement of air mail. The Only limitation on this is on registered items. Military regulations forbid the use of foreign carriers in handling this Type of mail. Streamlining of the Apo system with the addition of Bunde Spost mail Pouch Dis patches and use of the International train has made internal delivery possible within matter of hours. In the past an Ordinary letter mailed in Wurzburg and addressed to a person in Stuttgart was dispatched around Midnight to Frankfurt arriving Early in the morning. It would remain in Frankfurt All Day leaving on the night train which arrive Din Stuttgart at 2 54 am. Now the letter is is photos by Gene Bane dispatched by Buh despot Pouch system led Long Wurzburg at 8 1$pm and arriving in Stuttgart at 11 14, a matter of three hours As compared with the former sched ule of approximately 27 hours. Another innovation was the establish ment of three additional centers for the receipt and dispatch of air mail to and from the . These additional centers in addition to Rhine main Are at Stutt Gart Nurnberg and Munich and Are operated by army postal personnel locate Din those cities. Air mail from the states is processed in new York arid dispatched direct to those centers which distribute the mail to Apos located in the general area. Running a postal system that extends from Karachi Pakistan to France has its problems Duda pointed out. One of the biggest headaches confronting the Apo and the mail concentration Center in new York is mail incorrectly addressed. Failure of personnel to use All the ele ments of a Correct address and the use of unauthorized or unfamiliar abbreviations in the return address a which in turn Are used by the recipient of the letter cause most of the delays and directory service actions. Use of unusual abbreviations Suchias those used in the transmission of electrical messages adds to the confusion particularly at the mail concentration Center in new York. During a three month period army Apo personnel had to consult their directory files on no less than 1,584,373 letters and parcels in attempts to locate  was mainly because of improper or incomplete addresses or because personnel transferring within the theater or to the . Failed to Tell their correspondents about it. " a few other figures Point up the enormous operation of the apr. It now handles approximately 45,000 tons of mail a year. It Sells and cashes $52 Mil lion Worth of postal Money orders and $6 million in Stamps yearly. This is done at the 192 Post offices within Usa eur. Cost of using Bunde Spost for Ordinary Apo letter mail is very reasonable according to Duda. Bunde Spost receives pay ment under the International mail agree ment. So for a nominal Cost mail is expedited Between All major locations in Ger Many. The air Force has a part in the postal operation too. It receives and dispatches All air mail arriving and leaving Rhine main. Outgoing mail is prepared for Dis Patch at the army operated 28th base Post office in Frankfurt which in turn delivers it to the air Force for tendering to . Commercial airlines. In a similar manner the incoming air mail is received from . Commercial air lines by the air Force and is picked up by base Post office personnel from Frankfurt who in turn distribute it to Apos for de livery to unit mail clerks. So if that letter you mailed or you re expecting has t arrived Don t be Quick to blame the Apo people. They re doing their part. But was the letter properly addressed Jacb the stars and stripes Page 1 ,. .i-1. T. A.,