RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- The 786th Force Support Squadron remains open at limited hours with the help of volunteers to deliver mail to members of the Kaiserslautern Military Community.
Due to mission requirements, many postal office workers were augmented to help in Operation Allies Refuge, leading to Ramstein post offices operating with 20% of their normal staff despite mail continuing to deliver seven days a week.
“We typically operate off of around 60 to 65 people between Northside and Southside,” said Andrew Carroll, 786th FSS Director of Postal Operations. “Right now Northside has 18 people, Southside is operating off of 4 people and Kapaun has 5.”
The lack of staff has led to the post office changing to limited hours, going from 7 hours on most weekdays to 4 hours. However, the reduction was temporary due to the response from the community.
Volunteers have been a great help during OAR, and a steady rate of volunteers has been able to extend the post office’s hours to 8, operating from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4-8 p.m.
“They’re the reason why we’re in such a good standing,” Staff Sgt. Jalynn Guy, 786th Force Support Squadron postal clerk. “First class mail racks up faster than packages do because there’s a bunch of them. They’ve been knocking that stuff out for us and then manning the windows while we’re back here scanning.”
The 450th Intelligence Squadron has been a major asset during this time, giving the post office around 70 volunteers to help out for an entire day.
“That’s a record as far as volunteers at the Northside Post Office goes to actually have that many people show up and be actively engaged for an entire day,” Carroll said.
Any personnel with base access is able to volunteer to help the Post Office. Potential volunteers are welcome to stop by one of the Post Offices in the KMC area and ask to help or email them at 786fss.postal.service.1@us.af.mil.