The secret Santas of RAF Alconbury

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chase Sousa
  • 501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs
RAF Alconbury, United Kingdom --  The holiday season is filled with joy and happiness, but for the USAFE- AFAFRICA Air Postal Squadron Detachment Five and the post office it means harder work and longer days; all to get you your presents on time.

It’s important around the holiday time to deliver mail because everyone is away from family and friends and everyone wants that special package from loved ones, said Master Sgt. Christopher Michnoff, USAFE- AFAFRICA Air Postal Squadron Detachment five, Postal Detachment Chief. “We’re behind the scenes but the reason we’re here is to boost morale.”

Detachment Five is the central hub where all packages addressed to service members in the U.K. are processed and sorted accordingly.

“The mail starts by coming into London Heathrow airport then we have a courier who picks it up and delivers it here seven days a week, where we then sort it by APO,” said Michnoff. “On any given day we have around 20 crew working.”

On an average day Detachment Five personnel off-load and process over 1,000 packages coming from all over the world.

Once the packages are sorted by base, a driver from each base is sent to retrieve them.

“It’s nice to see someone’s face light up when they come in because they have been waiting for a package,” said Airman 1st Class Travon McCall, RAF Alconbury postal clerk. “Mail is morale.”