[NYTr] Walter Reed "Scrambles" to Deliver Massive Mail Backlog
 
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 16:37:01 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Army Times - Jun 17, 2007
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/06/Army_mail_backlog_070615w/

Massive mail backlog found at Walter Reed

By Alex Neill 

Army officials scrambled to deliver thousands of undelivered letters and
packages - some with postal dates from May 2006 - addressed to soldiers
at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Though the backlog was discovered in the hospital's brigade combat
center last week, Army leadership did not announce its efforts to
correct the situation until issuing a press release at almost 6 p.m.
EST Friday. The release was titled, "Army takes immediate action to
deliver backlogged mail."

Army spokesman Paul Boyce said late Friday that the backlog piled to
some 4,500 pieces of mail because the contract employee mail clerk
could not locate the soldiers or staff members to whom they were
addressed, and instead left them in the mail room without further
processing.

"That was not satisfactory," said Boyce.

Boyce said he did not know exactly when the backlog was discovered, but
noted it came to the attention of Army leadership when somebody noticed
the bins of undelivered mail. That began an investigation, Boyce said.
He added that the matter was not made public until after the situation
was confirmed.

According to the press release, Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, commander of
the medical center, ordered "immediate counting, sorting and delivery
of the mail, and relieved the contract employee mail clerk of duties."

The Army press release said that a team of 20 to 40 soldiers and
civilians, under the direction of hospital brigade leadership, were
conducting 24-hour operations to screen and forward all the mail, which
also included magazines and direct-marketing materials. The team was
assisted by Army Human Resources Command and the Military Postal
Service Agency office.

Soldiers still at the medical center will have their mail delivered this
evening. Delayed mail will be forwarded with a letter of apology from
Schoomaker. Boyce said the backlog was expected to be cleared before the
end of the weekend.

"This delay is completely and absolutely unsatisfactory," Schoomaker
said in the release. "Nobody knows better than the Army how important
the mail is to a war fighter's morale, and we have taken immediate
steps to address this matter."

Schoomaker assumed command of the hospital center and North Atlantic
Regional Medical Command in March, after his predecessor was relieved in
the midst of a nationwide scandal when it was revealed that soldiers in
medical hold were living in squalid conditions and others were forced to
endure long waits for medical evaluations.

After Friday's discovery, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, acting surgeon
general of the Army, ordered all medical treatment facilities to
immediately review and inspect mail room operations to determine
whether there is a wider problem with mail delivery.

Meanwhile, the release said, the Army adjutant general "is sending
inspection teams to hospital mail rooms nationwide."

The Army is investigating the cause of the backlog at Walter Reed, which
receives more than 27,000 pieces of mail a day, the release said.

B) 2007, Army Times Publishing Company 

       
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