He Who Controls the Mail, Controls Information Holiday Edition

I did a post back in July on the fine job done by Beans and the Burnometer on mail operations. We are always encouraged to constantly "improve our foxhole" which is an Army way of saying there is always more work to be done. In anticipation of the vast amounts of holiday mail we would be getting, the SMOOT (Squadron Mail Overseas Operation Team, an acronym I just made up) adjusted fire a little bit in order to become more efficient. Gone are the days of the whole section carrying in mail by hand. The new operation involves 2 connexes in the parking lot, a PLS (palletized loading system), a hotdog, a nut roll, and a shovel.

On the first I day hung out with the mail guys, the PLS was in getting serviced, so they used a hybrid approach with the LMTV and the forklift. Here is SPC Burnham taking the first pallet off the truck. They had to take 2 vehicles, 6 pallets in the LMTV and 2 in HQ01.

Here is HQ01, the S1s vehicle for moving around Anaconda. Those tan patches that you can see are a remnant of when Gaskins painted GO BIG RED and a Husker emblem on the armor panels. Although it was a nicely done paint job, it doesn't really meet the standard for an Army vehicle.

After we unload all of the pallets, the boxes are sorted by hand into piles for each unit in the 2 connexes. Here is connex 1, with Burnham and HHTs mail. As you can see, the pile is taller than him.

SGT Calvo and SSG Goldman from C Battery, 3-4 ADAR, 82nd Airborne. This unit mans the anti mortar guns that help keep us safe.

Day 2, the PLS is back. Burnham getting ready to roll out.
Newly promoted SGT Benes in the driver seat.

Loading the connex on the PLS. We're number 1!

SPC Burnham securing the connex to the PLS. His arms aren't quite long enough to reach the pin, so he has to climb up on the tires to do it.

The PLS with the connex loaded up. They take this down the JMMT and load the pallets directly on here. They can get 10 in one trip, so it is much more efficient than the 6 that can fit on the LMTV.