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Dealing with mail can be a nerve-racking experience. Will it arrive on time? Will it be safe? What if it’s lost?
With these questions in mind, the 86th Communications Squadron postal specialists do their part to make sure parcels are delivered efficiently and safely.
“A lot of people look at our job as just mail, but it’s bigger than that,” said Master Sgt. Jack Lloyd, 86th CS Northside Post Office postmaster. “Mail improves morale for the people stationed here.”
Lloyd makes this connection considering military members often look forward to mail when they are away from family and friends.
The majority of the packages that come through Ramstein’s Northside Post Office are personal. However, postal specialists also handle official mail — parcels that are addressed to units, first sergeants or commanders.
With both personal and official mail, the Northside Post Office handles approximately 8 million pounds of parcels annually, making it the largest postal operation in the Department of Defense.
Additionally, the finance department of the Northside Post Office, which handles anything that involves money, such as selling stamps and sending mail, generates approximately $4 million every year.
These numbers may not be surprising as the post office serves the entire KMC, the largest U.S. military community outside of the U.S. With such a large customer base, even the dedicated postal specialists at the Northside Post Office require some help.
“Volunteering is a very big deal,” said Airman 1st Class Michael Parshall, 86th CS postal specialist. “We’d love as many volunteers as we can get to work as many hours as they would like.”
Volunteers can help postal specialists by sorting and pitching mail to personal boxes, unloading the mail truck and manning the pickup windows. Lloyd said this allows the postal specialist to handle the more technical aspects, such as processing.
Recently, the Northside Post Office was authorized to have volunteers year-round though they were previously used only during the holiday season.
“If anybody wants to volunteer, they can just show up and we’ll square them away,” Lloyd said.
While the primary reason for assisting the postal specialist may be to lighten the workload, some members of the postal services team also believe it has its added benefits.
“It would open a lot of people’s eyes when they see what we do,” Parshall said. “It’s a wonderful job. If you have the opportunity to come down, you should definitely try it.”
If you would like to do your part in delivering some peace of mind or just want more information about the postal services, stop by the Northside Post Office in Bldg. 426.
