Mail not getting through on Ops

[enginesuck]

Has anyone else on Ops had any problems with mail getting through? I Have heard rumours that the new system at Northolt has been having teething problems but Ive been waiting over a month for various parcels/letters now and have had the same problem with sending letters back. Anybody got an explanation?

[TheInquisitor]

So now they've f**ked up the mail, as well as people's pay?

Next thing you know they'll stop feeding us....though doubtless the Ministry of Defensiveness will claim it is an 'isolated incident'.....

[MATZ]

I've just spent 4 months in Kabul.

It was routinely taking 18 days for letters and over a month for parcels (2kg limit). Eblueys were anywhere from a day to a week - depending on the printer working!

The US have a great system - up to 31Kgs per parcel, each way, FREE! It took 7 days for two 20kg boxes to come from Kabul to an American serviceman I work with. The US postal system flys it stuff via contract/commercial and dos not rely upon space available on Mil flights.

At least emails get through quickly....

[teeteringhead]

As TheInquisitor says, it's the thin end of the classic "meals mails money makes morale".

And what of the cliche visiting senior officer's remark to the deployed troops:

"Food OK? Boots fit? Mail getting through?"

Answers now: "Yes, only if I buy my own and no sir!"

[nealgardner]

On a comfy op in Qatar, Blueys take between 10 and 16 days to arrive, and a parcel anything upto 3 weeks. My other half posted a card with a stamp via Royal Mail, not RAF Mail and it arrived in 48 hours!!
Good luck to you all in the not so nice areas on ops.

[Al R]

Perhaps.. the synergy isn't there at the moment? No one has yet been asked to arrive at an innovative, far reaching and underpinning solution, delivered in a passionate, prudent and cohesive manner.

[Al R]

I don't wish to use the tragic death of Capt Phillipson to make a cheap point, but it would seem that mail continues to be the least of our soldier's worries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/7245533.stm

<The army has admitted vital equipment was sent to Afghanistan 25 days late, arriving after the first British soldier died in Helmand Province. Capt James Philippson, 29, was the first casualty after troops were deployed in the region in June 2006. In a statement, the MoD said it was a "regrettable administrative error". The Board of Inquiry reports that [a failure to] follow the correct staff procedures.. "This was a regrettable administrative error, albeit one that occurred in difficult circumstances.">

Was the coffee pot in the HQ canteen not working, or was there something else similarly catastrophic to cope with?

[Gainesy]

What is the "new" system @ Northolt? I thought that some part of the Army (RLC?) handled BFPO mail?

[Hoobie Schnaps]

The 'new system at Northolt' is basically a move of BFPO from Mill Hill to a purpose built facility that just happens to be at Northolt (good location for interaction with Royal Mail etc). The new facility has all mod cons it seems (including less people I guess) and as such was seen as a big step forward by BFPO (or at least some of them). As someone sitting is 'Stan at the moment it is taking anything between 10 days and 3 weeks for blueys getting to me from another BFPO address (in Europe) and up to a month for parcels less than 2kg. The same for me sending things back home. Bloody annoying.

[The Adjutant]

Nice to know the new BFPO "has all Mod Cons" It seems to me that MOD has been Conning us all for quite some time now.

Pip pip

[Spotting Bad Guys]

It all came to a bit of a head in the second week of Dec, I understand. When complaints of delays came flooding in, there was a stony silence from 'the management' (the BFPO management, not deployed Cdrs). The most they would say is that the free 2kg parcel post had had a far greater effect than had been expected!
So the problems were nothing to do with:

a. Moving the BFPO in October/November just ahead of the busiest time of the year, mail-wise.

b. The rumours (more than rumours if your follow ARRSE) of unsafe machines and workers' strikes.

c. An almost complete change of personnel resulting in the move from Mill Hill....

d. ....combined with fewer workers as the new system is 'more efficient'


I am on the same "comfy op" as you, nealgardner and 10 days ago I received a parcel postmarked 7 Dec....it might be better now but it was bloody terrible over Christmas. And if it was bad here (given our position on the Charter route) what must it have been for the boys and girls in Lash and elsewhere?

[Toddington Ted]

"....what must it have been for the boys and girls in Lash and elsewhere?"
To be honest "variable". Some post seemed to get to some people quite quickly whilst others were less lucky. Over Christmas we received a great deal of post (a veritable torrent) but that was due to the generosity of the British Public and it wasn't representative of the normal level of mail coming into theatre. I'm still amazed how much was shifted and not just to the hubs but up to where it was really needed, in the FOBs. Average time for post here now? - I guess 10 to 14 days. Whoops, that was nearly a "line to take"!:}

[2Planks]

Its not just ops - all BFPO mail was shocking over christmas. There were huge piles of mail stuck at Northolt (there was even a picture in Soldier magazine) and they just sorted what was put on top. This meant magazines/papers from early Dec arrived in late Jan. According to Chief Postie (not called Pat disaapointingly) the backlog is clear, much of the blame was laid at teething problems and a huge surge in stuff due to the free postage.

Another snag is a lot of the sorting is done by electronic scanning - this scanner has a habit of picking up the senders BFPO address on the back of a parcel so we have been receiving a lot of our parcels back. Very frustrating and we don't have an enemy to worry about. Godspeed to all on ops

[rolandpull]

Post thru BZZ does not sit on site for long and is always booked to the first available jet and is never loaded on a 'top-up' basis. Indeed if there is ever spare capacity then the movers bring the mail forward to the earlier jet. Trying to streamline the efficiency in-theatre BST mail is built onto separate pallets to speed up the transfer on to the local in theatre AT. Xmas post was expedited out of this Oxon airhead. 1500-1800 mail sacks a day was not uncommon from the mail depot with acft pllts being built as they arrived. Papers tend to be delivered 3/4 times per week in to BZZ for the various locations and I have never seen them on the hgr floor longer than 4/5 days. I hear that what is needed is an increase in the local in-theatre AT to clear the backlog of cargo pllts held on hand, these are the what the papers get loaded to.

[fantaman]

The mail system is a total disgrace! I can't believe when so many guys and gals are out there risking their lives, post is taking anywhere between two weeks and two months to arrive.

Like nealgardner,I have managed to land myself on a decent det, I'm out in Oman. My missus and mum sent me a parcel at the same time, from the same post office. My mums arrived two and a half weeks later, the other three and a half weeks later.

How the hell do they send mail at the BFPO? BA runs a daily flight into Oman, I see it almost every night.

To top it off, I also heard that the BFPO won some sort of award just before christmas for its "service". Thats after they apparently burned thousands of mail they had backed up.

As I say, I've got a fairly easy det out here. Its the poor buggers in Iraq and Afghan that I feel sorry for. I'd quite happily wait a month for my stuff if it meant those guys got theirs in a week, sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Shame on you BFPO and the MOD :ugh:

[nav attacking]

The BFPO system is shameful to say the least.

There are letters and parcels still turning up here that were sent out in November!! No doubt they were meant to be Christmas presents and some of the guys or gals have returned to the UK, lets hope not in body bags from the hotter places. Standard blueys seem to be taking anything from 1-2 weeks and cards or other mail more than 3 weeks!!

Meanwhile mail home takes less than 1 week, can anyone explain the difference? Apart from maybe that it gets straight onto a BA flight and goes into the commercial system back in the UK and going no where near BFPO!

The only thing I can suggest is that our wives, partners, parents, friends etc etc send a formal letter of complaint into their MP maybe that will get some questions asked in the house. The system used to work but slightly slowly now I reckon Pony Mail would be quicker.

[Logistics Loader]

NavAttack;;

Mail home to UK taking 1 week...
It aint rocket science....!!! not wishing to sound patronising BUT !!

In theatre you are relying on in theatre assets, maybe 2/3 c130's to move troops and spare etc.... items on return to UK have more assets available.

Mail has been and unless the rules have changed (demobbed 4yrs ago) will always be considered a High Priority...exception being parcels...!!!
parcels were in my day classed as surface freight and as such are loaded to the RAFAT fleet on a fill up basis... ie they are the same category as indulgence freight....

In the pecking order of loading, aircraft spares/ammo/rations/mail were always in the top 4 !! for obvious reasons...

Being at both ends of the spectrum on ops and the standard det to the SA Death Star and waiting for the mail, knowing how the system operates, it doesn't faze me...these things take time.... the nature of the beast....

Also, i know from experience, that the Movers work hard alongside the Posties to try to ensure as much mail is moved as possible...

Sadly, everyone thinks they can do everyone elses job these days....this is not the case...

We can do our own jobs well, but sadly there are those who think they can do better...!!

[tidewatcher]

I have been sending eBluey's to Tellic with no problems until the middle of this week when they all appear to have arrived at the BFPO server but have not managed to get any further. Anyone else had this problem?

[Beeayeate]

Anybody else out there remember weekly flights of Gan's 'Sticky Brit'? :hmm:

Mail always got through in the 'old' days without the benefit of modern computer controlled equipment and stuff.


:E

[Spotting Bad Guys]

Logistics Loader the issue is not with the in-theatre end! The movers and posties out here have done what they can and more than once in the last 5 months I have been on a C-17/C-130/Other type as appropriate out to AFG that would have had room for a few bags of mail. The problem throughout the entire debacle has been located fairly and squarely at Northolt i.e. the BFPO depot and the way that they have chosen to address the issue i.e current mail first/backlog last.
Quite frankly the whole thing was a complete joke until January when formal letters and reports started to bring the issue up.

Complete bollox in my view.


SBG

[Top Right]

Can someone confirm that all BFPO services at Mill Hill have now stopped, and everything is at Northolt?

[nav attacking]

Logistics Loader:

It aint rocket science....!!! not wishing to sound patronising BUT !!

You are absolutely right mate it isn't rocket science:8! Why the hell when there are civvy flights bringing civvy mail into theatre can't we just cough up the bucks and accept that sometimes the civvies could do things better than we can. DHL, TNT etc would take on most of the courier jobs and do them a damn sight better than the current mil system, and probably cheaper. Even Royal Mail have a better service!! Agreed that from the logistics hub onwards needs to be mil flights but then give the mail going into theatre a reasonably high priority. It cannot be right if mail and christmas presents could still arrive in theatre after someone has left.

The services brought this on themselves advertising the free parcel post to theatre before christmas and then couldn't match the rhetoric yet again!!

If I end up in theatre again I may just get myself a PO Box out there and cut out the middle man.

I wasn't knocking the people involved just the fact that we seem to be hanging onto an out dated system that is obviously :mad::mad::mad: up.

Then again why doesn't that surprise me...

[ZuluMike]

I presume the Eblueys are printed at Northolt, too? At present, they are frequently taking over a week from pressing send in Kandahar to receiving at home. Do they just sit around for 5 days after being printed? Amusingly, a real bluey used to take about that long from Kandahar (now averaging 12 days).

Incidentally, parcels to Basrah last October were taking 2 - 6 weeks. The posties wouldn't record a lost parcel until 6 weeks after posting, that was their definition of normal transit.

[nav attacking]

Zulu Mike

Technically the eblueys should be printed off at a location near to the address at which it is intended. At least that what was advertised when the system was set up. I suspect that yet again the MOD has :mad::mad::mad: up a system that could be much simpler and better. Lets face it most people have e-mail these days.

However, the receipt of a handwritten letter from loved ones means so much more and is probably the best moral boosting thing that can happen to anyone on the ground.

Being ex navy I remember that mail-runs to the ship were given the highest priority as a way of keeping moral up. It was a good excuse for the WAFUs to get to shore before the rest of the crew just to pick up the mail anyway.

Maybe the MOD needs to remember the idea of Best Practice and not just go for the cheapest option all of the time. We all know that if you want something to last or mean something you don't always buy from cheapest bidder. Unfortunately the accountants seem to know the cost of everything and not the value of anything! I suspect that BFPO has gone down the same route!!

[Hoobie Schnaps]

Never been one to kick someone when they are down.....However, one of the most frustrating things I have found with BFPO (other than the stuff taking ages to arrive) is the fact that they will not accept parcels (or letters I assume) that have been ordered from internet sales companies that use couriers that are not on the approved BFPO list. So lets say you order something from sparkies electrical stuff.com and they use a local courier 'smiffies deliveries' - because smiffies deliveries does not have an agreement with BFPO they will refuse to accept it.

When I enquired (repeatedly) as to why a parcel of mine had been returned to sender I finally got the answer that as the courier firm did not have a revenue sharing agreement with BFPO then BFPO refused to accept the parcel. So BFPO seems more interested in revenue generation than supporting froint line - QED.

[tidewatcher]

I mailed the customer help on eBluey and recieved a prompt reply which indicated the postie for Tellic was not well and a replacement had been sent out. All my outstanding eblueys were downloaded and printed very soon afterwards. Not a lot of slack in the system......

[Logistics Loader]

SBG...
I read and digest your comment "there was space for a few bags of mail"

Therein lies part of the problem.

Mail is "issued" as a consignment ie 30 bags. Mail is not rountinely split just to get it to where it needs to be...

Would you be happy with only 1 part or 2 parts of a 4 part IKEA flat pack...
I think not....!!
Whilst i always agree Morale in the form of letters is far better than an Ebluey...sadly you do have to make do at times....

The saga of BFPO waiting 6wks i think stems from the fact parcels as i already stated are loaded to the AT Fleet on a fill up basis as they are technically Surface Travel only...!!! If spare capacity is available after Ammo/rations/aircraft spares/forces airmail then they will be loaded.

Hoobie..

Similar probs exist with BFPO 808....
If you requested a PCB from smithiesparks.com to BFPO it wouldnd arrive, but using your AMQ address worked... How could a government dept like BFPO make money...?? RAF owned aircraft !! service personnel carrying out the postie tasks/movers loading unloading mail....raf crews flying it round the world with AAC crews also delivering it...

NavAttack:

How many times have you seen the cheapest option being used and it all goes Pete Tong ??

The problem from your reply was that the MOD were to blame...!! Spot on mate...they created "free parcels" , emphasis on parcels....!!!
See my earlier comments re parcels... therein is the problem..

Yes the BFPO system aint great, what in Forces life is these days ??
Pay being screwed up !!!
Det times getting closer together !!!
Promotion SH 1 T !!

Maybe the Dutch have it sorted... go on Strike !!!

If my pay is stuffed up, simple i dont work til its sorted...

At worst they send you to MCTC in colchester....
Upside , No det, comfy bed, mod cons ......

[Stuff]

Would you be happy with only 1 part or 2 parts of a 4 part IKEA flat pack...
I think not....!!

Are there many Ikea wardrobes in the Telic tents then?

I doubt many spouses/significant others can write letters long enough to need 4 envelopes.

[Logistics Loader]

Roflmao..........................

[JamesA]

MATZ,
I work for one of the US mail carriers and would like to correct you. Outbound mail from the US is not free. I thought it would be as they tend to give a lot to their troops. But, when helping the mechanics get to the on-board spares pack ups it is necessary to remove the bulk loaded parcels and it amazed me how much the postage cost. Perhaps it is free to the troops sending items home, but certainly not from Yankeeland.
There is at least one mail Boeing 747 per day from the US and in the run up to Christmas it could be six. I know there is a lot more US mil but from reading the foregoing it appears the Min of Uncaring doesn't support the folks in the field.
Could say more but don't want one of those 'special flights' to an unknown holiday destination.