No Forces Aerogrammes Available

[maninblack]

Apologies to Danny et al for using Reporting Points rather than the military forum but I think this is of a wider interest than just the military and reporting points is the first port of call for most visitors.

This morning I went to one of the major post offices in Portsmouth and was told that they do not have any Forces Aerogrammes and do not know when they will get any. For those who have no families in the military Forces Aerogrammes (Blueys) are air mail letters that are supplied from for communication with service members in certain active service units.

How can a nation that has known this was coming for many months not be able to supply the basic tools of communication to forces families?

So after the scandal of having to pay for your own kit now you even have to pay for what is supposed to be a free service.

[Lou Scannon]

I suggest that you make an immediate call to the MP for the area and ask if they intend to get this sorted. Follow it up with a call to the local press to ask for their help!

[interestedparty]

May I recommend http://www.faxyourmp.com/ as a good way of contacting your MP. Nearly all of them accept messages in this way. Some may even do something.
A call to ITN and the local Meridian newsroom in Southampton would probably be a good approach too.

[maninblack]

I had already emailed Mike Hancock MP, spoken to the local newspaper and telephoned The Mirror as they are the least likely to follow the party line.

Meridian TV is a good idea though. I am having trouble expressing my level of disgust at this incompetence although it might not sound like it. :-)

Cheers

[opso]

You'd probably have more luck phoning the Sun rather than the Mirror as the Sun loves the 'our boys are let down by the Govt' stories.

[POMPI]

Just emailed the Portsmouth News with a link to this page.

[interestedparty]

You know Blair ........... "Tough on competence, tough on the causes of competence" - boyish grin, was that OK, George?
Still, I suppose it's down to the Post Office; 'round where I live they appear to dowse the mail in the local Wiltshire mud before delivery, to give it that authentic country flavour. LOL

[Egerton Flyer]

Hi, I can get my hands on some for you if your deperate, until the war started I had no idea what a bluey was, now everyone wants them

Just let me have your address and I'll send them 1st class (no charge)
:)

Mr Blair said recently that when operations are over that post to BFPO numbers in the gulf will be F.O.C. including small parcels.

:O

[Ed Winchester]

For those unable to get hold of any paper 'blueys' you may be interested to know that you can send free e-blueys, courtesy of British Forces Post Office (http://www.bfpo.org.uk).

Handy for me, as I am elsewhere overseas. I registered and sent one to a buddy on OP TELIC and he got it within 24 hours. Your letter is printed out at the other end, and delivered.

Cheers.

[Hippy]

Disgusting that PO counters should run out of Blueys.

Just to endorse what Ed said, E-blueys are great & don't worry, they are printed and sealed by machines at the other end, so no one is going to unfairly mock 'Snuffly bunnykins' over his compo breakfast.

(I assume the 'more than 10 a day' rule still applies though, for those lucky enough to have a bar.) ;)

[Wilkynife]

we have been in total isolation for months(opsec) and then had 2 weeks where we couldnt gt any blueys, had to photocopy the outside of one with tippexed out address and when it was received at the other end the PO charged for it, so much for the support of those in the UK, profiteering still goes on

[Lou Scannon]

May I suggest that Ppruners take up arms on behalf of the troops? If we all drop by our local post office and kick up hell if they don't have any available, we might be helping.

[Ralf Wiggum]

Maninblack,

I realise that not all people have a PC at home, but since you have started a thread on a computer with internet conection, perhaps you can send an e-bluey. Works a treat as my colleagues at the sharp end will tell you. I recieve e-blueys the day after they send them.

The Army posties and MOD have done something right with this little nugget. Logon to:



http//:www.bfpo.org.uk (http://www.bfpo.org.uk)

register, provided you have an email addy and away you go. You can even spell check and write legibly.

[maninblack]

Thanks to those who helped join in spreading the bad news about this including listmembers, the press and Mike Hancock MP. By yesterday afternoon the "powers" had managed to get a new supply delivered to the local post offices.

A little bit of people power.

[taglo]

This smacks so much of a bean-counter somewhere obviously deciding that the issue of blueys could be scalled down now that the web system was working.

I tried the e-mail system when it was first pionered, when half the bfpo numbers weren't included and it didn't work most of the time. It needed a war to sort it out.

I've now been getting two or three daily from people in theatre, and the average is about two days maximum from person to person, which is pretty impressive.

The next step is to build on this and have mobile terminals as part of the welfare package 'at the sharp end', keeping right up with the lead troops, so they can send e-blueys back to the folks at home.

But, snail-mail blueys must still be made available on request at all post offices and in sufficient amounts.

I've not heard of any limits so far to the e-blueys. I suppose it all comes down to 'time on terminal' at the other end to compose them.
One of my chums always sends at least two pages per letter, which are produced as two e-blueys. Back in late February I recieved 17 e-blueys one day (from 3 different people), but I'm sure this was because there had been a hiccup in the system for a few days.
Apparently sand gets everywhere.

[Hippy]

I've not heard of any limits so far to the e-blueys

Sorry, just to clear any confusion - The 10 a day limit I refered to is nothing imposed by BFPO or anyone else, just a tradition I came across in the Falklands that usual resulted in some sort of bar fine for the lucky recipient. Not sure if this applies to other theatres.

[BEagle]

The 'More than 10 blueys per Timmy/Tommy = Slab' nonsense was yet another stupid so-called tradition in the drink-fuelled culture of Base Aerea Gringo, Islas Malvinas. Hopefully the grown-ups have now stamped it out.

E-bluey works much better than hitherto - and the supply of paper blueys to local post offices is unlikely to be a deliberate 'bean counter' policy, more likely incompetence in that PO's re-supply administration.

[Lou Scannon]

I have just checked with my local, market town post office. They seemed a bit embarrassed by the question so maybe someone has been kicking backsides.
They have 300 in store and are ordering more.

And I don't even know anyone to write to anymore!