By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2014 - Changes to military postal operations will save the Defense Department $4 million annually while providing services comparable to those of any U.S. Postal Service office, a senior Military Postal Service Agency official told DoD News.

Efficiency improvements being implemented by the Military Postal Service Agency will use the Postal Automated Redirection System which is used to identify and redirect undeliverable mail before it is shipped overseas, reducing labor and transportation costs while getting mail to its correct destination. Graphic courtesy of Military Postal Service Agency   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

James Clark, chief of the agency’s operations division, said the changes will go into effect during October and November.

“As it relates to the Internet Change of Address and Postal Automated Redirection System, we are automating the redirection process of first class military mail,” he said. “It will improve transit times. It would save costs in both transportation and labor overseas, and improve overall services.”

The Military Postal Service Agency facilitated the transition to a more efficient system that’s in line with the USPS and will produce millions of dollars in savings for DoD.

“When we did the business case study we had to determine what our return on investment would be,” Clark said. “So we did that with all the major commands, solicited their input, and are looking at $4 million in cost avoidance each year across DoD.”

This takes into account labor and transportation costs, he said, noting that the savings likely will be greater, given the time that has passed since the case study was conducted.

The current redirection process is manual, Clark said, with mail shipped from the United States to overseas servicing military post offices, who then manually redirect it somewhere else -- whether that’s to another military installation overseas or back to the United States.

Clark noted when the new process goes into effect domestically, the automated equipment is going to intercept that letter if a change of address is on file and redirect it to the new address.

“One of the biggest things that our customers … need to know is that in addition to their out-processing at the military post office, they’re going to have to go online at USPS.com and complete an Internet change of address,” he said.

That process, he added, is what feeds the automated systems to allow them to intercept and redirect mail within the United States.

These changes will help to offer authorized military post office patrons the same services and systems that are available at any USPS post office in the U.S. However, if customers fail to perform that change of address online, they will not receive the benefits of these new technologies,” he said.

Similar to the existing USPS change-of-address process, authorized MPO patrons can expect to be charged the same $1 verification fee to their credit or debit cards, just as they would if they were changing their domestic address. The fee verifies that the person who is making the change of address is accountable for that information.

These new services are a realization of the vast differences between USPS addressing and historic military addressing. MPSA is working with USPS and each of the services to update military addresses to conform with USPS standards.”

The takeaway is all of the entities that have a stake in this are working together to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible and do our best to limit impeding existing services.

With the majority of military addresses complying with USPS automated systems, and the Military Postal Service Agency working to stay engaged with the USPS, Clark said, a majority of service members will be able to benefit from the service.

“It is important to us that we stay in lockstep with USPS as they develop their technologies and service improvements,” he said. “We want equitable service for our service members and their families overseas, because they deserve it.”

(Follow Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Marshall on Twitter: @MarshallDoDNews)

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