Osan Post Office best in Air Force

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Candy Knight
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  What started with the Pony Express' 1,966-mile long delivery route between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif., ended with Osan's post office being named "Best in the Air Force."

Earning this honor holds special meaning for the 32 highly-skilled Airmen and civilians responsible for providing Team Osan members with all the luxuries of a regular U.S.post office.

"Being named the Best in the Air Force is great," said Master Sgt. James Register, postal superintendent. "It is a humbling, yet exciting feeling."

The Osan post office currently serves more than 11,000 active-duty, DoD civilians, contractors, retirees, as well as transient servicemembers supporting various training exercises throughout the year.

What makes earning this recognition so special for the team that handles more than four million pounds of mail and generates nearly $4.5 million a year in U.S. Postal Service revenue?

"It just proves something what we already knew - we are the best," Airman 1st Class Frankey Peterman said.

Sergeant Register said inspectors were impressed with the appearance of the post office, as well as the new initiatives the postal team instituted such as the A-2-B tracking system and the package notification system which sends e-mails to patrons letting them know they have a package ready for pick-up.

"Inventiveness like this proved that our postal team strives to give the best customer service each and every day," he said. "The inspectors also saw the pride and effort the team puts into their jobs every day."

Customers also see the team's pride and effort.

"They're great," said Staff Sgt. Michael Peralta, 51st Fighter Wing protocol office. "Mail is so important to a person's morale. There's nothing better than opening my mailbox and seeing that I have a letter from home."

Airman 1st Class Kyle Van Vickle, 51st Mission Support Squadron, said he believed the postal team deserved the recognition.

"Their customer service is amazing," he said. "They are always courteous, have a positive attitude and are always putting the customer first."

But while the team cherishes the awards and recognition they received, it is not the reason why many of them volunteered for the special-duty assignment.

"I volunteered because I thought it would be fun and it has been," said Airman Peterman. Airman Peterman's primary career field is personnel. "Even though there is a lot of hard work and effort that goes into it, when you see a customer smile when they receive something from home makes it worthwhile. And providing outstanding customer satisfaction is the key to our success."

Sergeant Register, who has been a postal technician for 16 years of his 18-year career, added that he constantly receives e-mails from former postal technicians asking how they can get another postal assignment.

"This job is very rewarding," he said. "Many volunteers find that the job is a great learning experience and former technicians get so excited by what they've accomplished that they want to come back."