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USS George Washington Receives First Mail Shipment During Deployment

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS110406-11
4/6/2011

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Juan Pinalez, George Washington Public Affairs

SASEBO, Japan (NNS) -- The forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) received approximately 10,000 lbs. of mail after arriving to U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan, for a port visit, April 5.

George Washington has been underway since March 21, so the port visit to Sasebo was the first opportunity to bring mail aboard.

"We took on 35 tri-walls, or 10,000lbs of mail after arriving in Sasebo," said Chief Logistics Specialists (SW/AW) Daniel Weaver, George Washington's postal officer. "Due to our operational schedule, mail has been delayed since we left port, so I'm glad our Sailors are finally getting their mail. Now they can take care of personal business and reconnect with family."

The post office aboard George Washington usually average between two to ten tri-walls of mail. The large load can be directly attributed to George Washington's early deployment and time at sea.

"It's been many years since George Washington has gone without mail for this long, so to get it all at once serves as a good training opportunity for the post office workers," said Weaver.

Nearly 20 Sailors worked all day to sort and move the hundreds of boxes and bags of mail from the hangar bay to the post office two decks below.

"It can get pretty hectic for us in the post office," said Weaver. "We have 70 divisional mailboxes and everyone tends to come down all at once when the magic words, 'mail call, mail call', are spoken over our 1MC."

For some of the post office workers, not knowing when the mail was going to arrive was more challenging than actually sorting it.

"I'm glad the mail finally came in," said Logistics Specialist Seaman John Forristal from Houston. "It sure is a relief to get it so I can finally stop saying 'no' to the hundreds of questions I get daily from my shipmates. I'm happy to tell everyone to come on down and pick up their letters and packages."

Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Ieshia Williams from Americus, Ga., said she is happy to finnally receive dresses she ordered two months before the ship deployed.

"At least I'll look forward to wearing them in a liberty port sometime in the future," said Williams. "I'm also excited to get my mail, so I can check for my college and high school transcripts. It's for a Seaman to Admiral package that I'm assembling right now."

George Washington is the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, ensuring security and stability across the western Pacific Ocean.