Movement of Mail Through Diplomatic and Armed Forces Channels

GAO surveyed the movement of mail through diplomatic and armed forces channels at various Far East locations. Members of the armed forces serving overseas are granted special mailing privileges. The military departments operate military post offices funded by the Department of Defense (DOD). The military postal service is authorized to serve other U.S. Government personnel and agencies provided such action is not precluded by the host government and the workload does not overburden the military facilities and manpower capabilities. When other Government agencies use the military postal service, they reimburse DOD for transportation costs but not for personnel or administrative costs associated with the service.

At the four installations visited, GAO found that the military customers for whom the service was primarily intended were in the minority in relation to the total personnel served. Information from the Departments of the Army and Air Force showed that these were not the only military post offices which served primarily non-DOD personnel. When military post offices were closed, U.S. personnel were required to use international mail service where such was determined to be adequate. Where this service was inadequate, the patrons were eligible to send and receive mail through unaccompanied diplomatic pouches. GAO felt that it was incongruous for the minority portion of an embassy contingent to be supporting the embassy and other civilian personnel for mail services instead of being served. Such operations appeared to be inconsistent with the DOD mission to provide overseas military postal for the benefit of armed forces personnel.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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