European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Rotas Navy mail shipment shapes up by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau w Hile All Post offices Are challenged to get the mail to frequently moving patrons the . Navy a Fleet mail centers must also track constantly shifting Post offices. The Fleet mail Center at naval station Rota Spain is one of three such centers in Southern Europe and the Middle East. The other two Are at Nas Simonella Sicily and in Bahrain. The volume of mail flowing through the centers ebbs and floods depending upon ship movements and what is going on in the world. A two weeks ago the Simonella Center was Busy. During desert shield storm Bahrain was the Busy one. It All depends on where the ships Are. Now with a Carrier Battle group scheduled to come in Here we Are the Busy place a chief Petty officer Jim Holland Rotas postal officer told recent visitors to his Center. A making sure we have flights to move mail to ships at sea is the big Challenge for us. It All depends on the availability of cod and helicopter service a said Holland 33, a resident of Chattahoochee Fla. Cod the term stands for Carrier on Board delivery aircraft Are Navy cargo passenger planes capable of operating from both carriers and Shore bases. Much mail destined for ships operating at sea is fun need through carriers and then Onward by helicopter to smaller Navy warships. Getting mail to ships during their port visits is relatively easy according to Holland. A was Long As they Are in port we have no problem a Holland said. Three postal clerks a two sailors and a Marine a stationed at Torrejon a near Madrid coordinate mail service for ships visiting All Spanish ports other than Rota Holland said. A we have seven pallets of mail Here now that we will be sending out to ships in the area a he said. The Center at Rota is responsible for the naval stations Post office plus ensuring mail service to All Petty officer 2nd class Don Wienand secures mail bound for ships in the Mediterranean. Ships operating in an area from around Spain a Balearic islands in the Western Mediterranean to the Eastern Atlantic. Fifteen sailors and four marines Are assigned to the Center at Rota. Their workdays run from about 6 . To As late As 7 . When the mail floods in the postal folks work even longer hours. A one Guy Petty officer 2nd class Don Wienand came in at 6 yesterday morning and worked until 6 . He came Back in to Check on something at 10 ., just As a Bunch of pallets came in. So he got Back to work breaking Down the mail from those pallets and Here it is 10 30 the next morning and he a still at work a Holland said. A a in a starting to drag a Little bit a Wienand admitted As he prepared to finally Call it a Day. Mail from the United states comes via new Yorkus Kennedy Airport and is routed through Madrid. From there it is trucked every Day to Rota. Outgoing mail is trucked daily to Madrid. The truck trip from Madrid takes anywhere from 10 to 12 hours Holland said. A that the trucking adds a Day to our incoming and outgoing mail a he said. A express mail takes two Days to the states provided it is mailed Here before a amps Jim Dar Talm a amps Jim do Rte pm Chi. Michael Milosh updates the mail status. 9 . It takes three Days if mailed after that time. A the amount of complaints we get Here is very Small but those we get most frequently Are about late mail delivery. The big problem causing tardy mail seems to be at the Large civilian mail Center at continued from Page 4 the mail is transported Over to the Aerial mail terminal also at the Airport where it is sorted and put on military trucks. Army mail goes to a mail processing Center in nearby Offenbach and air Force mail goes to the major air bases such As Ramstein. Mail arrives around the clock at the air terminal and employees work 24 hours a Day sorting and loading mail into trucks from the a 37th trans group. In the United kingdom mail first arrives by air in London. Its sorted then smaller airlines or trains continue the transportation network. Mail delivery in the Mediterranean Region is a bit More complicated. A Fleet mail Center operated by the Navy in Rome or one of two mail terminals operated by the air Force in Athens and Madrid is the first Stop for mail. Continuing transportation consists of a network of vehicles local commercial airlines and even military planes that carry mail to the ships at sea. That a the big picture. But what is going on in the trenches Well say that letter aunt Bea mailed arrives on a plane at Frankfurt on monday morning destined for her Nephew in Hanau Germany. From the airmail terminal in Frankfurt it is trucked to the sorting facility in nearby Offenbach. Its a huge building basically divided into two areas in the first area mail is sorted and pitched into mailbag. The second is a room consumed by a conveyor system that weaves Between ceiling High bins where mailbag and packages Are separated by Apo. The facility usually gets about four inbound trucks daily from the air terminal and dispatches trucks to nine major units in 21 locations said 2nd it. James Pulos. The 24-hour-a-Day operation handles about 500,000 pounds of mail a week he said. Sgt. Bobby Gaston is one of the floor supervisors who oversees the conveyor Belt sorting and truck loading. A the hardest part is making sure the right mail gets on the right truck a he said. A every Apo has their own truck and there Are three loading belts that we use. If the Driver brings the truck up to the wrong Belt the mail will go to the wrong monitoring the timely arrival and departure of the trucks that carry the mail is also a major part of Gastons Job. A by 7 . All of our trucks should have left Quot he explained. A if a truck is supposed to leave by 7 . And does no to get Here until 8 ., there has to be a valid reason and we have to report it to our Headquarters. If there is too much mail for one truck we have to make an extra run and we Call the Apo to let them know they be got another truck complaints about the mail system aggravate Gaston. He feels people done to appreciate the sacrifices and Tough work schedules postal workers endure. A we work holidays seven Days a week Day and night a he said. A we want people to get their mail and in Here we keep it so now it is tuesday morning Anil aunt bears letter is on its Way to i Lanau. Incoming mail usually arrives Between 6 and 6 30 ., said sgt. 1st class v a Fua platoon sergeant for the 1st platoon 40th postal co which runs the Hanau operation. The sorting area bustles in those Early morning hours to sort the mail by unit for the first mail Call of the Day a 10 30 . That is when mail clerks from unit mail rooms and outlying Post offices pick up the mail for their customers. The Hanau Post office handles Between 700 and 1,000 pieces of mail each Day and one or two containers of third and fourth class mail per month. Once again the Rule is a in and out in one Day Quot said Chi. Juanito Marcelo operations supervisor. A anything that comes Here today is out by 5 or 5 30 . There is no mail in Here when we close up at so where is the letter from aunt Bea if there were no transportation holdups it should be in her nephews Mailbox by lunch Inu i tuesday a a Day after arriving in 22, 1992 cunday a Page 5
