Lieutenant Colonel Doug LeVien and Maj. Kenneth A. Willeford, commanders of the 593rd Special Troops Battalion and the 22nd Human Resources Company respectively, cut a ribbon, ceremoniously opening the 593rd Sustainment Brigade's post office Dec. 1 on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The post office is run entirely by Soldiers - one of only two of its kind operating in the continental United States.
"The driving factor behind the opening of the North Fort (sic) post office is the growing population on JBLM," said 1st Lt. Todd M. Akroyd, the officer-in-charge for the post office.
The post office will "lighten the work load from the already busy main post office," LeVien said. And just in time for the Christmas season, he pointed out.
The grand opening was the capstone of eight months of hard work and planning. The other Army post office, at Fort Bragg, N.C., took more than two years to open, Akroyd said.
The facilities had to meet certain requirements. For example, since the post office handles cash and valuable items like money orders, the building had to be secured to higher standards.
Members of the postal team have completed training on the Integrated Retail Terminal, which weighs mail, calculates postage due, prints postage and calculates monetary transactions. The Soldiers who work in the post office were trained in how to properly track accountable mail such as certified mail, Akroyd said.
A small group of Soldiers traveled to Fort Bragg, N.C., and to Marine Corps Camp Pendleton, Calif., to observe postal operations at both locations. The Marine Corps trains Marines as postal clerks and runs its own post offices.
The Army is a little different, Akroyd said. Instead of training Soldiers specifically for mail handling, it offers the position and training opportunities as a specific skill associated with the military occupational specialty of "human resources clerk."
Human resources specialists learn a variety of skills at their advanced individual training including a brief introduction to postal operations. Some of them may not undergo any additional training prior to deploying to a post office overseas. The Lewis North post office affords these Soldiers the added benefit of hands-on training and familiarization in the garrison environment before deploying, or before going to school to earn the postal operations skill identifier.
Soldiers will be able to practice customer service skills, various methods of mailing letters and packages and balancing a cash drawer.
JBLM is the largest Army installation in the Western U.S. Its population has nearly doubled in the last few years, LeVien said. However, the main post office has not expanded until now.
The 593rd Sust. Bde.'s post office will operate as a satellite branch of the main office. It is located in Building 12324 on 18th Street near the intersection of 19th Street and 32nd Division Drive on JBLM Lewis North.
The post office is open to anyone on JBLM. Services offered include sale of stamps and money orders, priority, express and accountable mail.
Hours of operation are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m.
At this time the post office will not accept checks as a form of payment.
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