thedrifter
03-22-09, 07:41 AM
Iraq’s sandstorms delay ‘love in a box’
3/21/2009 By Cpl. M. M. Bravo , 2nd Marine Logistics Group
CAMP AL TAQADDUM, Iraq —
In an environment such as Iraq, where the weather can be sunny and beautiful one day and overcast and windy the next, service members deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom have grown accustomed to the fact that when a sandstorm arrives, the mail doesn’t.
So when Camp Al Taqaddum’s postal Marines received roughly 51,000 pounds of boxes and letters, March 11, three days after a major sandstorm wreaked havoc on the region, they reached a record weight delivery for the current rotation of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Matthew D. Engelhardt, assistant operations chief, Postal Detachment, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), said that with the U.S. military conducting a responsible drawdown of its forces in Iraq, the amount of mail coming into the country has significantly decreased since the last time he was deployed here in 2006.
With four days worth of mail arriving at once, Engelhardt was reminded of a time when U.S. forces had a much stronger presence in Iraq and they were processing that much mail each day.
“We’ve only been here for about a month, but this is the biggest delivery we’ve seen,” he said. “We usually receive only about 9,000 pounds daily.”
Engelhardt explained that in 2006, Al Taqaddum’s postal detachment supported units aboard Camps Baharia, Ramadi, Blue Diamond, and Fallujah. During that time, postal Marines usually worked 18-hour days in dangerous conditions.
“Most of the time we worked in flak and Kevlar because we were always getting hit,” he said. “There also used to be mail scares. Sometimes we would get ticking packages and have to shut down the shop and call EOD.”
For this year’s deployment, the Marines work flak-free in a high-ceiling warehouse, getting their jobs done safely and having plenty of time to sort all of the mail.“Now [the threats aren’t as imminent] but we’re not going to become complacent,” he explained. “I still look for the little hints of something wrong like misspellings of addresses and cut-out magazine lettering. But if there’s something wrong [with the mail] it’s usually fixed before it gets here.”
With President Obama’s pledge to begin a responsible drawdown in Iraq, the postal detachment now only supports Camp Baharia and Camp Ramadi, delivering their mail from folks at home as quickly as possible.
Lance Cpl. Brian K. Jones, a postal clerk, is on his first deployment. He keeps track of every unit coming into the country, leaving the country, and going to different bases.
“Ultimately it’s my job to know exactly where to deliver everyone’s mail,” Jones said. “Everybody wants mail and I have the privilege of delivering it to them.”
Along with sending mail onto further destinations, the postal Marines hand out mail to their fellow service members at Camp Al Taqaddum.
“There’s always a Marine on post for mail call,” Engelhardt said. “If Marines come back late off a convoy, they can still get their mail.”
Engelhardt added that the decrease is a sign of U.S. military forces taking a step back and allowing Iraqi Security Forces to take more responsibility for the security of their country.
“It’s good to come back and see that we’ve done some good and we don’t have to be as strong of a force,” he said. “It means we did our job. Iraq’s taking it into their own hands to take care of their country.”
Sandstorm or not, the postal Marines take their jobs very seriously, knowing that what they do truly makes a difference in others lives, boosting morale across the Corps.
“It’s rewarding to see Marines getting mail from their wives, pictures of their kids, care packages,” Jones said. “It keeps the morale up.”
Because the Internetis readily available to many deployed service members, e-mailare not as sentimental as a handwritten letter.
“We do have Internet so getting mail isn’t the same as it used to be,” Jones explained. “But when you get a letter, it beats reading an email any day because somebody took the time to write to you.”
Not only are people back home taking the time to write letters, they’re putting a lot of effort and care into sending ‘love in a box’ to their service members.
“Everyone cherishes care packages and receiving things they can’t buy; things like kids’ drawings with ‘I miss daddy’, homemade treats, or perfume on a letter.” Engelhardt said. “Anything that takes them out of the reality of being here for 10 to 20 minutes and takes them home for a little bit. It makes coming back to reality a lot easier.”
“It’s all I care about, to see a smile on a Marine’s face who probably hasn’t smiled in five months,” Engelhardt finished. “And that motivates me.”
They may not be directly involved in security patrols or personnel searches everyday, but the Leathernecks of the Postal Detachment here keep their fellow Marines going strong with letters and packages of morale that allow them to feel the love from home, if only for a few minutes.
For more information about the ongoing mission in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, visit www.iimefpublic.usmc.mil/iimeffwd.
Ellie
3/21/2009 By Cpl. M. M. Bravo , 2nd Marine Logistics Group
CAMP AL TAQADDUM, Iraq —
In an environment such as Iraq, where the weather can be sunny and beautiful one day and overcast and windy the next, service members deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom have grown accustomed to the fact that when a sandstorm arrives, the mail doesn’t.
So when Camp Al Taqaddum’s postal Marines received roughly 51,000 pounds of boxes and letters, March 11, three days after a major sandstorm wreaked havoc on the region, they reached a record weight delivery for the current rotation of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Matthew D. Engelhardt, assistant operations chief, Postal Detachment, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), said that with the U.S. military conducting a responsible drawdown of its forces in Iraq, the amount of mail coming into the country has significantly decreased since the last time he was deployed here in 2006.
With four days worth of mail arriving at once, Engelhardt was reminded of a time when U.S. forces had a much stronger presence in Iraq and they were processing that much mail each day.
“We’ve only been here for about a month, but this is the biggest delivery we’ve seen,” he said. “We usually receive only about 9,000 pounds daily.”
Engelhardt explained that in 2006, Al Taqaddum’s postal detachment supported units aboard Camps Baharia, Ramadi, Blue Diamond, and Fallujah. During that time, postal Marines usually worked 18-hour days in dangerous conditions.
“Most of the time we worked in flak and Kevlar because we were always getting hit,” he said. “There also used to be mail scares. Sometimes we would get ticking packages and have to shut down the shop and call EOD.”
For this year’s deployment, the Marines work flak-free in a high-ceiling warehouse, getting their jobs done safely and having plenty of time to sort all of the mail.“Now [the threats aren’t as imminent] but we’re not going to become complacent,” he explained. “I still look for the little hints of something wrong like misspellings of addresses and cut-out magazine lettering. But if there’s something wrong [with the mail] it’s usually fixed before it gets here.”
With President Obama’s pledge to begin a responsible drawdown in Iraq, the postal detachment now only supports Camp Baharia and Camp Ramadi, delivering their mail from folks at home as quickly as possible.
Lance Cpl. Brian K. Jones, a postal clerk, is on his first deployment. He keeps track of every unit coming into the country, leaving the country, and going to different bases.
“Ultimately it’s my job to know exactly where to deliver everyone’s mail,” Jones said. “Everybody wants mail and I have the privilege of delivering it to them.”
Along with sending mail onto further destinations, the postal Marines hand out mail to their fellow service members at Camp Al Taqaddum.
“There’s always a Marine on post for mail call,” Engelhardt said. “If Marines come back late off a convoy, they can still get their mail.”
Engelhardt added that the decrease is a sign of U.S. military forces taking a step back and allowing Iraqi Security Forces to take more responsibility for the security of their country.
“It’s good to come back and see that we’ve done some good and we don’t have to be as strong of a force,” he said. “It means we did our job. Iraq’s taking it into their own hands to take care of their country.”
Sandstorm or not, the postal Marines take their jobs very seriously, knowing that what they do truly makes a difference in others lives, boosting morale across the Corps.
“It’s rewarding to see Marines getting mail from their wives, pictures of their kids, care packages,” Jones said. “It keeps the morale up.”
Because the Internetis readily available to many deployed service members, e-mailare not as sentimental as a handwritten letter.
“We do have Internet so getting mail isn’t the same as it used to be,” Jones explained. “But when you get a letter, it beats reading an email any day because somebody took the time to write to you.”
Not only are people back home taking the time to write letters, they’re putting a lot of effort and care into sending ‘love in a box’ to their service members.
“Everyone cherishes care packages and receiving things they can’t buy; things like kids’ drawings with ‘I miss daddy’, homemade treats, or perfume on a letter.” Engelhardt said. “Anything that takes them out of the reality of being here for 10 to 20 minutes and takes them home for a little bit. It makes coming back to reality a lot easier.”
“It’s all I care about, to see a smile on a Marine’s face who probably hasn’t smiled in five months,” Engelhardt finished. “And that motivates me.”
They may not be directly involved in security patrols or personnel searches everyday, but the Leathernecks of the Postal Detachment here keep their fellow Marines going strong with letters and packages of morale that allow them to feel the love from home, if only for a few minutes.
For more information about the ongoing mission in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, visit www.iimefpublic.usmc.mil/iimeffwd.
Ellie