Photo By Jim Kohler | USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Postal Officer LSC(SW/AW) Daniel Shelton and USFFC...... read more read more
The NAVSUP FLC Norfolk Postal Inspection Training Team recently completed a Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) Just Do It (JDI) project that directly impacts and improves the training and readiness of Fleet Postal Operations.
Recognizing a need for fleet postal officers to have an increased understanding and proficiency of postal operations and requirements, the team developed and implemented a “mock post office” that provides students hands-on training using exact replicas and equipment found in a shipboard environment. Honing in on the spirit and tradition of the Naval Supply Corps School “USS DUARTE,” the first class of postal officers successfully completed the inaugural training June 16.
“The Mock Post Office will serve as a live training evolution for numerous postal-related courses as well as provide direct fleet training opportunities for units preparing for deployments and scheduled postal inspections,” explained NAVSUP FLC Norfolk Postal Program Manager Jeff Gibbs.
The mission of the NAVSUP FLC Norfolk Postal Inspection Training Team is to administer cradle to grave training in all things postal for our supported fleet and ashore customers. “We are tasked by NAVSUP and USFF to conduct all required PQS training and qualification of all of our Atlantic Fleet ship postal officers and postal petty officers,” said Gibbs. “To conform with those requirements, the training team conducts bi-weekly PQS training events and a quarterly three-day postal officer familiarization PQS training workshop. The Mock Post Office training enhances current PowerPoint presentations with actual post office hands on simulated events to more realistically provide guidance in requirements of postal duties.”
Gibbs added the practical exercise for conducting a postal officer weekly inspection of the post office is being added to the end of the three-day postal officer familiarization PQS training workshop to give hands on experience from what was presented during the training event.
The training team prepared and outfitted the Mock Post Office with all the props necessary for shipboard postal operations to include virtual mail box set ups, mail pieces, security set up and administrative files required for ship post office operations. “We created a realistic ship post office environment for hands on training events to occur,” said Gibbs. “A second practical exercise for accountable mail has also been completed and will be tested in the near future before its incorporation into the three-day workshop.”
He added that there are plans on creating additional Mock Post Office training events to continue to improve training quality provided for all of our supported customers.
“Many times our training is being given to personnel who for the first time are being assigned to perform postal functions for their command,” explained Gibbs. “After completion of our classroom training events, we provide the students with a critique to evaluate the effectiveness of training provided. We had created a few lab events conducted in the classroom to give hands on training on tasking’s within postal. When reviewing the student critiques of courses presented, they overwhelmingly praised the hands-on labs utilized during their training and asked for more. We came up with the idea of creating a Mock Post Office that emulated the environment that postal duties would be performed in with practical exercises (PEs) for students to perform tasking’s learned within the Mock Post Office environment. Once the practical exercise were completed we obtained volunteers to perform the PEs in the Mock Post Office. Each student commented the new hands-on training made it much easier to understand their taskings and requirements.”
“In particular this will be helpful as the Navy transitions postal duty responsibilities over to the retail specialist (RS) rating,” explained Gibbs. “Being actually able to perform a task being learned will assist understanding of the process and go a long way towards mission success, especially when in a deployed environment.”
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2022 10:37 |
| Story ID: | 425475 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 376 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Naval Station Norfolk
