Massive mail backlog found at Walter Reed - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Massive mail backlog found at Walter Reed

Army officials scrambled to deliver thousands of undelivered letters and packages – some with postal dates from May 2006 – addressed to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Though the backlog was discovered in the hospital’s brigade combat center last week, Army leadership did not announce its efforts to correct the situation until issuing a press release at almost 6 p.m. EST Friday. The release was titled, “Army takes immediate action to deliver backlogged mail.”

Army spokesman Paul Boyce said late Friday that the backlog piled to some 4,500 pieces of mail because the contract employee mail clerk could not locate the soldiers or staff members to whom they were addressed, and instead left them in the mail room without further processing.

“That was not satisfactory,” said Boyce.

Boyce said he did not know exactly when the backlog was discovered, but noted it came to the attention of Army leadership when somebody noticed the bins of undelivered mail. That began an investigation, Boyce said. He added that the matter was not made public until after the situation was confirmed.

According to the press release, Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, commander of the medical center, ordered “immediate counting, sorting and delivery of the mail, and relieved the contract employee mail clerk of duties.”

The Army press release said that a team of 20 to 40 soldiers and civilians, under the direction of hospital brigade leadership, were conducting 24-hour operations to screen and forward all the mail, which also included magazines and direct-marketing materials. The team was assisted by Army Human Resources Command and the Military Postal Service Agency office.

Soldiers still at the medical center will have their mail delivered this evening. Delayed mail will be forwarded with a letter of apology from Schoomaker. Boyce said the backlog was expected to be cleared before the end of the weekend.

“This delay is completely and absolutely unsatisfactory,” Schoomaker said in the release. “Nobody knows better than the Army how important the mail is to a war fighter’s morale, and we have taken immediate steps to address this matter.”

Schoomaker assumed command of the hospital center and North Atlantic Regional Medical Command in March, after his predecessor was relieved in the midst of a nationwide scandal when it was revealed that soldiers in medical hold were living in squalid conditions and others were forced to endure long waits for medical evaluations.

After Friday’s discovery, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, acting surgeon general of the Army, ordered all medical treatment facilities to immediately review and inspect mail room operations to determine whether there is a wider problem with mail delivery.

Meanwhile, the release said, the Army adjutant general “is sending inspection teams to hospital mail rooms nationwide.”

The Army is investigating the cause of the backlog at Walter Reed, which receives more than 27,000 pieces of mail a day, the release said.