THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 29, 1995 TAG: 9511290444
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Thirty-two cents goes a long way in the Navy. It can go around the world.
That's all it costs for your holiday cards and letters to get to your loved ones overseas by Christmas - if you mail by Dec. 4. Monday is the deadline for sending cards, letters and parcels to deployed ships and overseas naval bases.
That makes last week and this week the busiest time of the year for the Fleet Post Office, located on the waterfront of Norfolk Naval Base.
The deadline will cap off a 50 percent to 75 percent increase in the mail center's volume that began the first week in November.
``We're here to provide the best service possible,'' said Master Chief Charles Ramsey, fleet postal officer, ``and we feel it's comparable to the federal postal service.''
Ramsey explained how the fleet postal office (FPO) works: you take your letters and packages to your local post office, with an ``FPO'' address on it, where you are charged the domestic mailing rate. That's because mail marked FPO-AE, destined for Europe, goes to New York; FPO-AA, headed for the Caribbean and South America, goes to Miami; and FPO-AP, ending up at Pacific bases, goes to San Francisco.
These are all gateways to the world in the joint military postal activity.
At the local post office, mail is separated into military and civilian, with the naval base mailing center getting everything headed for Hampton Roads-based ships and squadrons as well as bases in the Atlantic arena. Norfolk is the dividing line; all bases north of the city mail overseas through New York, south of the city goes through Miami.
``The Navy pays the majority of the transportation costs,'' Ramsey said. ``Your 32 cents only goes to New York. So, basically, you get international service for domestic prices.''
Once mail leaves New York, on either TWA or Delta commercial flights, it is in the custody of U.S. military personnel, he said.
``It stays within the system. Our military is at the foreign airport, say Rome, where we pick up the mail for disbursement to ships or bases overseas.''
All this service, even at the busiest time of the year, takes a letter five to seven days to arrive, and an air mail package about 10 days. It can take a lot longer if customers don't follow a few simple guidelines.
Ramsey said the most common problem in moving the mail is not having the correct address on correspondence.
Other tips: Mail early, pack parcels properly and don't send cash through the mail.
Insure high value items. Don't try to send alcohol; it's illegal and the bottles usually break, ruining other mail.
And don't waste your money using ``express mail,'' thinking letters and packages will go to a ship or European base the next day. That service only applies to mail going to destinations within the continental United States.
Ramsey said he doesn't see letters to Santa Claus, because customers know their mail is headed to a fleet post office and not the North Pole. But the mail volume is increased this time of year because of a ``Dear Abby'' program begun several years ago as a way to connect the public with homesick sailors through Christmas cards and letters.
If you miss the Dec. 4 mailing deadline, which is the last day the Navy will guarantee delivery, contact the fleet post office and ``we will try to work with you,'' Ramsey said.
``The military overseas will work overtime, right up to the 24th, to try and get mail out to the ships,'' he said. ``At this time of year, we consider the people who are deployed more important than those who are stationed on a base and can go home to their families at night.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
Boiler Technician Kenneth Whitaker moves packages in the Navy mail
center on the Norfolk Naval Base during the fleet post offices'
busiest time of year.
by CNB