Operation Troop Shopping Back In Action

Postal Employees Help Soldiers Get Into The Holiday Spirit

FORT KNOX, KY — More than 4,000 new Army recruits will embark on their first shopping trip since arriving for basic training during Operation Troop Shopping at Fort Knox.

Over two weekends, Soldiers will be given the chance to purchase holiday gifts for family members and loved ones at the local Post Exchange (PX), 127 Gold Vault Road. Volunteers will gift wrap and pack their purchases for mailing for free. 

This is the fifth year the Postal Service has sponsored the event.  Businesses have also donated gift wrap and packing materials to help make Operation Troop Shopping possible.

“With the support of Fort Knox leadership, basic trainees are given time off from training,” said Fort Knox Postmaster Larry Figg.  “We bring the Soldiers into the PX to do some holiday shopping, which is a real morale booster.”

Because trainees cannot bring gifts back to the barracks, the Postal Service has offered a solution.            

“We gift wrap it, package it and ship it,” said Figg. ”Last year, we shipped more than 3,700 Priority Mail packages as a result of the four-day event.”

Numerous volunteers, including employees from the Fort Knox Post Office, will be on hand to help make the Soldiers’ shopping experience as easy as possible.

“These Soldiers are getting ready to go to war in Iraq and when they come up to you and say, ‘Thank you so much for doing this for us,’ it really touches your heart,” said Fort Knox Post Office Supervisor Mary Cardoza. “It means the world to me to be able to do one small thing for them in light of the sacrifices they are making for our freedom.

“This is my third year working as a volunteer, and it keeps getting bigger and better,” added Cardoza. “We owe much of its success to the volunteers and to the military for allowing us to set up inside the PX.”

Operation Troop Shopping will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 6 and 13 and from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 7 and 14.

Media who wish to cover this event from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 6 may contact the Fort Knox Public Affairs Office at (502) 624-4413. Media must arrive at the Brandenburg Station Road Gate by 10:10 a.m. Dec. 6.