Postal troops ship out
Posted On: Monday, Oct. 13 2008 02:15 AM
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily HeraldWhile fellow soldiers and family members waved, cheered or cried Sunday as a bus carrying troops from the 81st Adjutant General (Postal) pulled away, a faint command could be heard in the crowd: "Patrol, salute!"
Three scouts from Cobra Patrol, Group 476 in Robinson and Hewitt, each brought two fingers to their foreheads and saluted stoically until the bus was out of sight.
The uniformed boys and their leaders made the hour-long drive from the Waco area to see the 81st, the scouts' adopt-a-unit, off to a 12-month deployment to the Middle East.
Twenty postal soldiers were joined by a smattering of others from units across post – including the 1st Cavalry Division, 4th Infantry Division, 36th Engineer Brigade and 89th Military Police Brigade. The 81st is part of the Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command.
The postal unit will be responsible for coordinating, receiving and processing incoming mail and dispatching outgoing mail in Balad, Iraq; Baghdad International Airport; and Arrfjan, Kuwait, said its commander, Lt. Col. Jason Kuroiwa. The soldiers will staff military mail terminals in which all the incoming and outgoing mail from all branches of service will filter.
It's an important job, Kuroiwa said, because mail is the No. 1 morale builder during a deployment. A letter or a care package is a tangible piece of home, he added.
The postal soldiers had just four months to form, train and prepare for their mission. That included classes on everything from affixing proper labels to packages to distributing mail to knowing what items can't be sent to other countries.
The Cobra Patrol scouts visited Fort Hood in August and learned about what the 81st soldiers would do in the Middle East and how important it was to the troops and their families. The boys also toured Fort Hood and got to eat at a dining facility with the soldiers.
"It was a blast," said James Butler, a 10-year-old Webelo.
His favorite part of the day was getting to see the helicopters, tanks and vehicles that soldiers use every day. Mary Oliver of the Bethel Methodist Church in Robinson, said the trip and the adopt-a-unit partnership has taught the scouts to have a deeper respect for the military. The church teamed with the patrol for the adopt-a-unit project.
The soldiers were "really nice," Butler said. He wanted to see the 81st soldiers off because he knew they had a "long, hard job ahead." If he could tell the departing soldiers one thing, he said Sunday, it would be that he hopes they do good and come back safe.
Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at
astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.