Photo By Sgt. David Hodge | Sgt. Frederick Gregory, an infantryman from Houston, assigned to the Operations...... read more read more
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By Sgt. David Hodge
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – During deployments, Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers receive care packages and personal items from family and friends back home.
The hard work and dedication of a team of certified mail handlers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, keeps morale high for the Soldiers of the 1st BCT Headquarters and Command, especially during the holiday season.
Approximately a dozen certified mail handlers make up the Raider Mail Team, led by Sgt. 1st Class Wanda Tapp-Kratzer, the logistics non-commissioned officer-in-charge for the 1st BCT "Raiders," 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.
Tapp-Kratzer, a Houston native, oversees mailroom operations that include picking up and sorting mail from the United States Postal Service Forward Operating Base Falcon Post Office and ensuring the mailroom is opened on time daily.
On occasion, when the certified mail handlers are busy, Tapp-Kratzer travels across the FOB to pick up mail herself and operates the 1st BCT Headquarters mail room herself, often stopping Soldiers in the hallways to tell them about their packages.
Random inspections by the post office could cause the mailroom to be closed if a violation is found, said Tapp-Kratzer, who is known by many across the Raider Brigade as "Sergeant T.K."
After the first inspection of the mailroom, the inspector said the conditions were the best he had seen on FOB Falcon in a long time, said Tapp-Kratzer, whose father is a former 4th Infantry Division command sergeant major.
"Everybody knows my standards and that I don't want the post office to close the mailroom," she stated. "I got all the mail handlers on the same sheet of music. They have done outstanding work."
Mail operations also have a serious affect on Soldiers' morale, said Tapp-Kratzer.
"With Christmas around the corner, it is important to get the Soldiers their mail every day," she added.
The mailroom experienced an influx in care packages for Thanksgiving and Christmas, with sometimes more than a dozen large boxes arriving at a time for a single Soldier.
"The mail serves as a connection from home to a combat zone for a Soldier," said Sgt. Frederick Gregory, an infantryman from Houston, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. "I love to boost morale, and morale makes Soldiers work more proficiently while deployed to a combat zone."
Sgt. Charles Kowalski, an infantryman who serves as a Battle NCO for the HHD "Renegades," 1st BCT, said he also believes correspondence and packages from home improve the overall morale of the Soldiers and the entire unit.
"People are happy when they get their mail," he said. "It also gives me a break from my normal job."
At first, Kowalski thought the additional duty would not be very rewarding work but soon realized the impact the letters and packages have on Soldiers.
"If someone's mail is ruined, the responsibility falls on the mailroom's workers," said Kowalski, who hails from Bristol, Conn., and plans to someday open a fine dining restaurant.
The additional mailroom duty keeps the Raider mail team busy at all hours of the day and is open for business twice each day.
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2008 03:02 |
| Story ID: | 27563 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 199 |
| Downloads: | 161 |
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