Home

Publication 38A, June 1983

A. PURPOSE

This publication describes the postal services available to military installations in the United States. The term United States includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the territories and possessions. These guidelines describe and/or expound upon USPS Publication 38, Postal Agreement with the Department of Defense, February, 1980.

B. DISTRIBUTION

1. Initial. Distribution is limited to the affected Management Sectional Centers.
2. Additional Copies. Order additional copies from your area supply center using Form 7380, Supply Center Requisition.

C. COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Address any comments or questions regarding the content of this publication to:
Office of Delivery and Retail Operations
USPS Headquarters Washington, DC 20260-7220

D. EFFECTIVE DATE

This publication is effective July 1, 1983.

Senior Assistant Postmaster General
Operations Group

I. DELIVERY SERVICE

A. Policy

Mail delivery service on military installations in the United States should be commensurate with the delivery service that would be provided civilian communities of comparable characteristics.

B. Basic Services

1. Official Military Mail

Deliver official mail addressed to principal commands on military installations in bulk.* Principal command are normally corps, fleets, the installation headquarters, divisions, wings, other major commands and equivalent Navy organizations located on the military installation.

2. Civilian Business Mail

Deliver mail addressed to civilian operated businesses such as the commissary, post or base exchange, bank, etc. as addressed.

3. Military Unit Mail

Deliver official and personal mail addressed to military units such as battalions, groups and similar organization in bulk.* Mail addressed to units such as supply depots, maintenance activities and publication centers generating a sufficient volume to warrant delivery shall be delivered in bulk.

4. Delivery Option

Although the above services are available to military installations this does not prohibit the military or a civilian business from electing to pick up their mail from the postal facility or requesting the Postal Service to deliver all mail to a control point on the installation.

C. Additional Services

1. Permanent Party Personnel

a. Family Quarters. Provide service to new residences on military installations through centralized delivery units in accordance with the prevailing national policy for extension and establishment of delivery service. Delivery service currently provided may be converted to centralized delivery service when agreed to by officials of the military installation and the Management Sectional Center (MSC) Postmaster.

b. Apartment Type Bachelor Quarters. Delivery service shall be provided in accordance with USPS Publication 17, Apartment House Mail Receptacles Regulations and Manufacturing Standards, through centralized delivery units to bachelor quarters with apartment house configuration and where units are occupied by one individual. For the purposes of this provision, apartment house configuration consist of buildings containing multi-residential units, each with complete living quarters consisting of a living room and bedroom or combination living-sleeproom, kitchen-kitchenette, and bath.

*Note: In instances where two or more principal commands or Military units are housed in a single building deliver all mail to a central point in the building.

c. Non-apartment Type Bachelor Quarters. Provide delivery in bulk in one of the following manners, as agreed to by officials of the military installation and the MSC Postmaster:

(1) Delivery in bulk with official military mail.
(2) Delivery in bulk to a single delivery point.

For the purpose of this provision, non-apartment bachelor quarters are buildings containing multi-residential units and each unit is occupied by one individual; each unit containing a living room and bedroom or combination living-sleeproom and bath.

d. Barracks. Do not provide delivery service to barracks. For the purpose of this provision, barracks consist of buildings containing multi-residential units. The units are occupied by one or more individuals sharing a common bath and/or cooking facilities.

Regardless of the type of housing, provide delivery in bulk to personnel in training and personnel and basic units in a transient or temporary duty status of 1 80 days or less.

3. Undeliverable as Addressed Mail

Deliver mail not specifically addressed to a building, command, or unit, to the installation directory service or to a point agreed upon by officials of the military installation and the MSC Postmaster. After the correct address has been supplied by the directory service, the mail is returned to USPS custody and delivered in the appropriate manner, or delivery may be made by officials of the military installation.

4. Parcel Post

Deliver ordinary parcel post in the same manner as other mail.

5. Special Delivery and Express Mail

Provide Special Delivery and Express Mail service to the same delivery points as other mail.

6. Accountable Mail

a. Where agreements authorizing the military to handle accountable mail have been made, accountable mail addressed to individuals or organizations that receive their mail from the military after delivery in bulk, will be delivered in bulk to the same delivery point as other mail, assuming any required payments are made. In the absence of the necessary agreements, or if required payments are not made, leave notices at the appropriate delivery point for transmission to the addressee.
b. Where bulk delivery of accountable mail is made, list the items as required on Form 3883, Firm Delivery Book.
c. Where the Postal Service provides delivery to civilian businesses, family quarters and apartment type bachelor quarters, attempt to deliver accountable mail to the addressee at the door. If the attempt is unsuccessful, a notice will be left.
d. For purposes of this provision, accountable mail consists of numbered insured, certified, registered, COD, customs and postage due mail.

7. Marking Up and Forwarding Mail

a. Where bulk delivery is made, the military or the civilian business will be responsible for marking up and forwarding mail in accordance with postal regulations.
b. Where the Postal Service provides delivery service to individual receptacles, the Postal Service will be responsible for marking up and forwarding mail.

At post offices with no city or rural delivery service, the military may arrange to pick up the mail in bulk and disseminate it to the addressees.

II. COLLECTION SERVICE

A. Policy

Collection boxes should be provided on all military installations receiving city delivery service.

B. Collection Box Locations
1. Major Administrative Areas

Install collection boxes where the greatest mail volume is generated and where boxes are convenient to the greatest number of administrative offices.

2. Civilian Business Areas

Install a collection box in front of or adjacent to the base/post exchange or commissary accessible to the greatest number of civilian or military personnel using the facilities in the area.

3. Troop Areas

If collection boxes in the troop living areas are about I mile apart, the density of these boxes is considered to be adequate. Additional collection boxes should be placed in front or adjacent to consolidated mess halls to ensure they are accessible to the greatest number of military personnel.

4. Family Quarters Area

Collection boxes should be located throughout the areas as needed. As a general guide, placements at I mile apart are considered to be adequate. They should not be placed in areas receiving motorized delivery to curbside boxes or delivery to centralized delivery points.

C. Frequency of Collection
1. Major Administrative and Civilian Business Areas

a. Monday through Friday. Schedule at least one collection daily as late as possible, but not later than 5:00 p.m.
b. Saturday. Schedule a collection as late as possible in the day but not earlier than 1 p.m. If the administrative offices are regularly closed on Saturday, do not schedule a collection in the administrative area.
c. Sunday and Holidays. No collections.

2. Troop Areas

a. Monday through Friday. Schedule one collection a day usually to coincide with a collection in the administrative area.
b. Saturday. Schedule collection as late as possible in the day but not earlier than I p.m. c
c. Sunday and Holidays. No collections.

3. Family Quarter Areas

a. Monday though Saturday. Schedule one collection a day to be made as the letter carrier passes the collection box during the normal course of deliveries.
b. Sunday and Holidays. No collections.

D. Removal of Collection Boxes

Collection boxes may be removed if a box in any area averages less than 25 pieces per collection day.

Ill. MAIL PROCESSING

A. Policy

Distribute mail to military installations by separations which are practical, mutually agreeable to the officials of the military installation and MSC Postmaster concerned, and consistent with the USPS policy to provide the military with service commensurate to that provided the civilian population of the United States.

B. Distribution Procedures
1. Official Military and Civilian Business Mail

a. Sort official military mail to principal commands.
b. Sort civilian mail to individual functional entities (e.g., credit union, Red Cross).

2. Basic Units

a. Sort official and personal mail to basic units consisting of approximately 200 personnel, or numbered boxes in groups of approximately 200 so far as practicable and mutually agreeable to the military authorities and MSC Postmaster.
b. Unique sortations are acceptable if they are mutually agreeable with the military authorities and MSC Postmaster.

3. Residential Mail

a. Mail for apartment type bachelor quarters may be sorted to street name and building number.
b. Sort mail for non-apartment type bachelor quarters to a single separation.
c. Sort mail for family quarters by address into separations for subsequent carrier handling.

4. Basic Operating Concepts

a. No distribution will be provided to departments or offices within a principal command.
b. The depth of the sortation provided will be determined by volume, density, addressing method, and situations unique to the installation.
c. When the MSC Postmaster determines that sortation to basic military units is not practical, the requesting military official will be provided an explanation.
d. In instances where officials of the military installation and MSC Postmaster cannot agree upon the level of sortation to be provided, the matter will be referred by the MSC Postmaster through normal channels to Postal Service Headquarters for resolution.

IV. RETAIL SERVICES

A. Policy

The Postal Service will provide convenient and effective retail services on military installations commensurate with those provided comparable civilian communities. The MSC Postmaster and the installation commander will share responsibility for providing retail services.

B. Responsibilities
1. The MSC Postmaster will:

a. Determine the level of service required.
b. Select the appropriate type(s) of retail units needed.
c. Provide for the cleaning and staffing of classified retail units.
d. Establish appropriate hours of service.
e. Provide retail services that are convenient for the majority of the people who live and work on the installation.

2. The Military will:

a. Provide conveniently located, adequate and safe facilities to house the retail units.
b. Provide security.
c. Consult with postal officials to resolve issues relating to postal service.

C. Types of Retail Units and Services Offered
The following are the various types of retail units listed in descending order and the various levels of service offered:

1. Classified Stations/ Branches: All retail services. In addition post office box service may be provided.

2. Contract Stations/ Branches: Basic retail and postal services as specified by contract. In addition post office box service may be provided.

3. Self Service Postal Centers: Stamps, envelopes, parcel mailing, if equipped with acceptance unit and currency and coin changer.

4. Multi-Commodity Vending Machine: Stamps, envelopes, postal cards and minimum fee insurance.

5. Stamp Booklet Vending Machine: Vend books of stamps.

6. Stamp Vending Machine: Vend single or multiple number of stamps from coils.

E. Deployment of Retail Units
The number and type(s) of retail units that will be deployed on a military installation will be based upon:

1. Population of installation on normal workday. This population includes military personnel, dependents, civilian workers, and other authorized personnel obtaining services on the installation.

2. Projected use of unit(s)-number of customers served, number and types of transactions, and revenue.

3. Physical layout of the installation. For example, two installations may have the same population, however, on one installation the population is centered in one general area, whereas on the other installation there are several population centers that are miles apart. Therefore, the number of retail units required to serve the latter may be greater than the first installation.

4. Distance to the nearest post office that is not on the installation.

F. Basic Deployment Criteria
1. The deployment of classified or contract stations or branches on military installations will be addressed on a case-by-case basis considering the specific needs and characteristics of the installation.

2. The following are basic deployment criteria for the various types of self service retail units. These criteria are flexible to the extent that if a particular military installation fails to meet the established population and revenue criteria and there is clearly a need for a self service unit, discretion should be exercised to provide the self service unit(s) appropriate to the circumstances.

Note: An Area Maintenance Officer must be available in the area.

V. IMPLEMENTATION

A. These guidelines outline the levels of service available to military installations. The Postal Service recognizes that some military installations are receiving levels of service that exceed these guidelines. Therefore, local management must not make any changes which would reduce the present levels of service to conform to these guidelines without USPS Headquarters approval.

B. Effective July 1, 1983, new service provided to military installations must not exceed these guidelines except as in VI. These guidelines also serve to rescind USPS Headquarters letter of March 23, 1982, subject: Service to Military Installations.

VI. REQUEST FOR SERVICE THAT EXCEEDS THESE GUIDELINES

In some instances military installations may request levels of service which exceed these guidelines. The MSC Postmaster may negotiate with the military to provide the requested service in exchange for adjustments in the present levels of service (collections, distribution, delivery and retail service) or converting door or curbline delivery to centralized delivery. The District Manager or designee must approve all such conversions. The carrier hours saved must be at least sufficient to offset the additional hours to be expended for the new service.

VIl. FOLLOW UP

A. For the remainder of PFY 1983 and PFY 1984, MSC Postmasters must provide USPS Headquarters, through normal channels, a report of all service adjustments as they occur.

B. The report must be submitted not later than 5 days after a final decision is made in the matter,

C. The report must contain the following:

1. Military installation name and ZIP Code.

2. The post office name and ZIP Code.

3. The action requested, by whom, and date of request.

4. The resolution and effective date of the adjustments.

5. The Cost/Savings expressed in workhours by craft and dollar value.

Senior Assistant Postmaster General
Operations Group