Active Unit News

Military hires jumbo jets to get mail flowing to IraqBy Debbie Stevenson
Killeen Daily Herald
The military has hired some jumbo jets to help get the mail flowing between the U.S. troops in Iraq and their families back home. However, word of a return date for 4th Infantry Division soldiers serving in Iraq was not as promising. Capt. Jeff Fitzgibbons, the press desk officer for the Coalition Joint Task Force-7 Baghdad, said Monday that the military is operating on a "first in, first out" priority for units leaving Iraq. "We're not giving any sort of dates to return," Fitzgibbons told the Killeen Daily Herald in a telephone interview. A unit's return "is incumbent on how successful the mission is," he said. Fitzgibbons likened the U.S. role in post-war Iraq to the painting of a house. "It's going to stop once the house is painted," he said. Ahead of the 4th Infantry are three major units, Fitzgibbons said, including the 3rd Infantry Division, which had its duty extended to August and was part of the main thrust into Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom. "The first of their elements are starting to redeploy as we speak," Fitzgibbons said. Other major units in front of the 4th Infantry include either the Marines or the 101st Airborne Division, Fitzgibbons said. For the soldiers who remain in Iraq, Fitzgibbons said the military has hired at least two to three of the Boeing supersized jets to ease the military mail bottleneck. The Army Times also reported this week that the agency added 72 commercial trucks and 100 SeaLand containers. The additions come as the morale-busting mail delays got the attention of Congress after families reported not receiving word from their deployed troops for up to three weeks. E-mails from 4th Infantry family members to the Herald and the division's Web site also have indicated slow and sporadic mail service. Tesia Williams, a spokeswoman for the Military Postal Service Agency, told the Times that the problem is the distribution of a "massive amount of mail once it arrives in theater." Noting that the volume has ranged from 325,000 to 400,000 pounds a day, The Times article reported that "troops on the front lines have experienced sporadic delivery because their mail moves via supply lines that also must carry water, food, ammunition and other necessities." In Baghdad, Fitzgibbons said, the problem is not so much with letters but parcels, particularly those headed for the United States from far-flung units. He said there are only a "few small hubs" that the soldiers can mail anything over 1 pound. "If they're sending parcels back, it can be a lot more challenging," Fitzgibbons said. "A soldier has to get to a postal facility to get stamps." With "units spread far and wide," Fitzgibbons access to the postal hubs can be a problem. For letters weighing under a pound, Fitzgibbons said, stamps are not required because the mail service is free. However, Fitzgibbons said he has been getting packages in as few as 12 days. "That's coming from Washington to Baghdad," he said, "which I think is pretty darn good."
Contact Debbie Stevenson at deborah@kdhnews.com

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