By: Paulina Kosturos Khoury
The holiday season is fast approaching here at NSA Bahrain! In order to avoid any delays or losses when shipping gifts home, it’s important that base patrons follow proper protocol and “address hygiene.”
Thomas Lewis, a representative from the post office, recently appeared on AFN’s morning show with NSA Bahrain’s commanding officer, Capt. Darren Guenther, to further explain the ins and outs of shipping mail home.
“Address hygiene: Sometimes we receive packages with the wrong box numbers, the wrong zip codes and it becomes a challenge because the name is correct,” Lewis explained. “But the box number or the command box is incorrect. We sometimes have to dig in our records to try to figure out who it belongs to, provided the person checked into the post office and we have records on those folks.”
Lewis also emphasized the importance of properly packaging fragile items.
“Besides a sturdy box, just make sure that there’s plenty of packing inside […] bubble wrap. We often get a lot of liquids and perishable foods that come in the mail as well and in those cases, add a plastic liner in the box in case it happens to break. We sometimes get collateral damage on these boxes and […] [when] those parcels get wet, the address becomes illegible and then we have problems of trying to distribute that mail as well,” he said.
In terms of who can have a mailbox on base, military, GS and contractors with approved entry dependents (with appropriate ID) are eligible (one box per family).
Lewis also highlighted that customers should not mail items intended for resale. Customers should also be vigilant about not shipping absolutely prohibited items like firearms, swords, alcohol or pornography.
“DoD regulations prohibit authorized users from purchasing items intended for resale […] We’ve seen it on occasion and we’ve addressed it with the customers,” he said.
“Let’s talk about pretty high traffic for mail…Stuff coming in and stuff going out. Alright. What is our best bet? You’ve got some dates we ought to be watching?” Guenther queried Lewis.
“Shipping goodies home from Bahrain. [Shipping date guidelines] for first class and priority mail [are] Dec. 11. Express mail [is] Dec. 16, and space available or standard mail [is] Nov. 27. Getting mail to Bahrain from CONUS, priority mail, express service is Dec. 15. First class and priority parcels [are] Dec. 11, space available mail [is] Nov. 27 and USPS Retail Ground [is] Nov. 6,” Lewis responded.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2018 03:03 |
| Story ID: | 298150 |
| Location: | BH |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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