Mail:
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...!!