Corporal James R. Buckley, a 22-year-old native of Massapequa, is nearing the end of his seven-month deployment here in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, yet mail call still excites him.

"Getting packages and letters is one of the main things I look forward to throughout the day," said the Marine air/ground task force planner with the West Coast-based 1st Force Service Support Group.

"When I read the letters it’s like an escape from here," he said. "The letters made the deployment better, especially around the holidays."

As 1st FSSG prepares for its much-anticipated return to the states, 24 Marines from 2d FSSG are taking over the post office here and filling its warehouse with laughter and singing as they sort through the mail.

"They maintain good spirits considering the amount of hours they work," said Master Sgt. Robert A. Simpson, 2d FSSG’s postal chief.

The post office here handles approximately 87,000 pounds of mail daily for the more than 14,000 II MEF personnel deployed across Iraq, a process that requires its Marines to invest 14 to16 hours a day.

The 87,000 pounds of daily mail, divided by the 19 postal Marines, means each Marine moves more than 2 tons of mail every day.

"(The postal Marines here) provide mail service to all service members, as well as civilian contractors throughout the entire area," said Warrant Officer Aurelio Campos, a native of Amarillo, Texas and the 2d FSSG postal officer.

The mail is palletized in the states and flown by way of Bahrain to Iraq, where it is distributed to the post office here or the other at Camp Al Asad. Anywhere from 10 to 18 pallets can be expected to make the trip each day.

Once here, the Marines sort through the mail by separating it depending on the location and unit to which it is addressed. Each unit’s mail clerks pick-up and distribute the letters and packages to the service members.

Mail destined for personnel at Blue Diamond, Camp Fallujah, Forward Operating Base Duke, Camp Al Asad and Ar Ramadi is sealed into large containers and convoyed to its final destination.

"Mail service has improved greatly since the beginning of (Operation Iraqi Freedom)," said Simpson.

The Tonawanda, New York, native continued by adding, "Once the operation started and all mail routings were established for all the services, it has been a smooth operation. In the beginning it was hard work to locate all military units in the (area of responsibility) especially since most were arriving on a moments notice from the states."

The mail is currently taking approximately eight days for letters and 11 days for parcels to be received here.

Besides getting the "snail mail," the post office prints nearly 700 MotoMails daily. MotoMail is a service provided free of charge to the sender and recipient.

According to Chief Warrant Officer Don McCarthy, a postal affairs officer at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, "The MotoMail system is based on the British Armed Forces system called E-Bluey that has been used to send free messages to [military] personnel stationed at locations around the world for the last five years."

MotoMail is a quick way for family and friends to get a message to the service members in Iraq. The sender creates an account on the MotoMail website, and then types a letter to a deployed service member. Once they click send, the message goes to one of the three MotoMail printers in Iraq, located at Camp Taqaddum, Camp Al Asad and Camp Fallujah.

Simpson said MotoMail usually reaches its intended recipient within 24 hours of being printed. That is, barring the occasional glitch.

If one of the machines at Camp Fallujah or Camp Al Asad quits working, MotoMail is printed here or in Bahrain. In the event MotoMail cannot be printed here, it is routed through Bahrain, which causes a delay in its delivery.

Lance Cpl. Heather N. Beckham, a 22-year-old postal clerk with 2d FSSG, uses MotoMail to stay in touch with her fiancé, who is at Al Asad, while they are deployed.

"It is nice to be able to send him a MotoMail and have him get it within a day," said the Spokane, Wash., native. "It keeps us in touch."

Despite the long hours, the postal clerks continue to do their job and know it makes a difference.

Lance Cpl. Dorthea F. Daniels, a 20-year-old postal clerk hailing from Jacksonville, N.C., said, "When I’m in the chowhall and somebody asks me if I’m with postal, I say ‘yes’ and they tell me thank you for doing all the mail. That is when I know it is worth it."

Marines with Force Service Support Group (Forward) postal work together to unload one of the many mail containers they received here March 9. The postal clerks receive 10-18 pallets of mail on a typical day. Their mission is to route the letters and packages to the thousands of service members serving throughout western Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Kristin S. Jochums.