You've got mail

Mark Burrows, 100th Communications Squadron Post Office receipt and dispatch operative, prepares outgoing bags of mail. Mail brought in by customers is sorted into APO and non-APO areas. The non-APO mail is broken down into five different stateside locations -- New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco. When it reaches those destinations, it is then redistributed all over the states. Parcels and letters for APO addresses are sorted separately into different APO areas. this time of year, Mr. Burrows said the post office receives about 30 bags of mail daily for the five U.S. locations (approximately 30 to 40 boxes). For APO addresses, they usually receive about 15 bags per day. Nearer the holidays in December, the amount of stateside mail at least quadruples, and APO more than doubles. The receipt and dispatch staff also pick up mail from mailboxes around base and bring it back to the post office to process and send it out to its destination. (U.S. Air Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere)