Following several years of changes in the international postal system, an invitation to visit the HQ British Forces Post Office (BFPO) at RAF Northolt was a great chance for AFF’s Overseas Manager, Esther, to see first-hand how the systems have adapted to provide an effective defence postal and courier service.
A site tour gave an insight into the logistical and technical challenges as well as an awareness of how BFPO, Royal Mail and commercial carriers work together.
The two main areas of operation are:
● The Defence Mail Centre which distributes official mail through Northolt and nine UK locations;
● The Defence Postal Services which sort and dispatch private and official mail to defence personnel worldwide.
BFPO IN NUMBERS
Whilst the volume of mail has seen a steady decline in recent years, the complexity of regulations and requirement to pre-screen mail has increased, keeping the team busy.
On receipt of mail from Royal Mail and other commercial carriers, BFPO screens, sorts and dispatches the mail for onward movement into theatre by the nominated carrier. Once through customs in the overseas locations, the mail is then distributed to field Post Offices.
BFPO supports 68 operational and exercise locations; 70 static locations; forces Post Offices in 14 countries and a large number of embassies and consulates. Last year staff even managed to send 8,054 Christmas boxes to those on ops!
CURRENT CHALLENGES
There was a chance to discuss current challenges and advice for those overseas:
● BFPO has been in discussion with DVLA to update its existing BFPO addresses, which were out of date. Customers should now be able to choose a BFPO address for all online and postal driving licence applications. It is even possible to choose a BFPO address when buying a personalised registration plate! MOD personnel and families can now obtain international driving permits free of charge, from any of the BFPO overseas forces Post Offices.
● As there is no option to enter a BFPO address when applying for a Global Health Insurance Card, there is current workaround advice when entering an address from a BFPO location:
- Select ‘enter address manually’
- Enter your service number in the ‘House and Name’ field
- Enter your BFPO postcode in the ‘UK postcode’ field
- Enter your unit address in the ‘Street’, ‘Town’ and ‘County’ fields
- Leave the country field as ‘UK’
● Those planning on regularly withdrawing cash via a BFPO counter overseas should check their individual bank’s services on the Post Office banking scheme list postoffice.co.uk/everydaybanking. Whilst the majority of major bank cards are accepted, some popular finance cards and some pre-paid top-up cash cards are not supported.
BFPO activity is only a small part of the mail supply chain, and customs and the onward movement within overseas countries is outside its responsibility and influence.
Should you have any comments on BFPO services, contact overseassupport@aff.org.uk as we have regular meetings with the HQ BFPO team.
OUT IN OVERSEAS LOCATIONS
Esther, who recently visited deployed Post Offices in Brunei and Kenya, said: “The BFPO services are a vital element of welfare support, not only for families assigned overseas who use it to buy British treats and essentials not available where they are, but for those serving personnel deployed keeping in touch with loved ones back in the UK. They also provide access to a range of Post Office counter services such as International Driving Permits and money exchange services.”
BRUNEI TEAM
The team explained that there is a monthly cash withdrawal limit and that deployed personnel may not be able to get enough over their counter to make large cash purchases, the standard local method of payment when buying a car, for example. An advance of pay has often proved the more effective way for accessing a large amount of local currency.
During Esther’s visit to Brunei, Sgt Jefferson Obazee was able to help with an AFF enquirer who had reported trying to send an 8kg parcel to BFPO 11 and had been incorrectly told the maximum weight was 2kg and to go and repackage it into four 2kg parcels at £4.65 each.
He explained that the error was likely due to Royal Mail counter staff mistaking the 2kg mail limit to operational BFPO locations with the 20kg limit for static BFPO locations.
As a result of this conversation, the enquiry was raised to the HQ BFPO team who provide monthly reports to the Royal Mail, identifying those Post Office locations where more training and awareness of BFPO services may be beneficial.
KENYA TEAM
In Kenya, Sgt Nagan Gurung and his team manage the mail for all permanent departments, temporary duty staff and exercising battlegroups and he said that the BFPO service is a huge morale boost. He added that many use BFPO to send out essentials required for the first few weeks overseas, as you can send up to 20kg for around £11. With a delivery two days a week and a maximum three-week delivery window, this is better than struggling with extra baggage on the flight over.
Main photo: Esther Thomas (AFF), Susan Gee (RAFFF) and Sian Timms (NFF)