Field Post (Bundeswehr)
The field post of army joins the troupe with both the home and the troops themselves.
history
In 1981, when soldiers of the 1st Company of the Light Pioneer Battalion 240 were deployed to provide earthquake relief in Naples , it was discovered that there was no mail supply for the troops in an emergency. So in 1982 the Bundeswehr began to set up and practice field post. With the army exercise " Shining Dawn " the first exercise with field post supply for the participating troops took place. " Flinker Igel 1984 ", " Fränkischer Schild 1986 ", "Landesverteidigung 1988", "Holsatia 1989" and "Schnell Start 1990" followed.
In 1992 the field post office was founded in Darmstadt . The first field post was deployed in the same year when a medical unit was deployed in Cambodia as part of UNTAC . 100 German medical soldiers were supplied by the field post in the field hospital in Phnom Penh . However, the name Feldpost was officially used only in 1993.
The procedure, which was refined in Cambodia and subsequently through exercises abroad, also proved itself in the following missions in Somalia and in the exercises "Yellow Swing 1993", "Dynamic Guard 1994 Turkey ", "Strong Resolve 1995 Norway ", "Adventure Exchange 1995" Spain "and" Cobra 1997 Spain ".
Every year around 1.5 million mail items are distributed to the soldiers (as of 02/2015). Field post offices abroad are often set up in ISO containers .
Today's field post
Force Base
The field post of the Bundeswehr belongs to the military organizational area of the armed forces base . The task of the field post is to supply the soldiers in the Bundeswehr deployment areas with mail and parcels . Furthermore, the shipment traffic from the operational areas via Germany to all over the world is ensured.
Each location has its own domestic German field post address at the field post control center in Darmstadt. By the German Post AG shipments are delivered to the army postal service directing center and dispatched from there. The field post acts as a bridge with the Federal Defense’s own transport capacities between Germany and the areas of operation around the world.
The soldiers deployed at the field post offices are members of the reserve who work in their civilian professions at Deutsche Post AG and ensure the supply of mail and parcels during a military exercise.
marine
In the navy , field post supplies are not carried out via the field post control center, but via the flotillas , which collect the mail and forward it to the individual units in the operational area .
Range of services for field post supply
The following Deutsche Post AG services can be used by authorized users of the field post supply:
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Postal service
- Ordinary postcards and letters up to 1,000 g (including plus letters),
- Postcards and letters up to 1,000 g as registered and registered mail ,
- Additional services letter: by hand and return receipt (only in connection with registered mail),
- Parcels up to 2 kg and plus parcels up to 10 kg,
- Letters up to a value of 500 euros with the value added service (only in connection with registered mail, only for mailings within Germany, the dispatch of cash up to a maximum of 100 euros is permitted),
- Post parcels up to 31.5 kg, dimensions max. 120 × 60 × 60 cm,
- Post parcels up to 31.5 kg with the "Safe" service: transport insurance (maximum amount: 2,500 euros), return receipt and "freight collect", dimensions max. 120 × 60 × 60 cm,
- Bulky goods are not permitted. Shipments that exceed the above dimensions and weights will be returned to the sender by the field post control center / field post offices. For shipments from other transport companies in the area of operation, the above apply. Dimensions and weight limits. Consignments whose content violates aviation security and dangerous goods are also excluded from carriage.
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Remarks
- Electronic franking (e.g. online franking or mobile phone postage) are not possible from the deployment area to Germany, as these cannot be checked for authenticity in the field post office.
- No consignments with identity or age checks can be sent to the operational area.
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Postbank (only in field post offices)
- Payout from Postbank - account by paying ticket on presentation of a valid identity document that meets the requirements of the Money Laundering Act satisfies such. B. Identity card / passport (max. 500 euros per day),
- Payout from postal savings account ; Max. 2,000 euros per month (not SparCard!) Upon presentation of ID / passport,
- Payment to postal savings book (not SparCard!), Max. 15,000 euros per month (threshold value of the Money Laundering Act),
- Payment with a payment slip to another bank account with presentation of a valid identification document that meets the above requirements, e.g. B. Identity card / passport (max. 999 euros).
Postcodes
- see also postcode (Germany)
Originally the routing numbers of the field post were randomly arranged in order to disguise the location of a unit in an emergency. With the end of the Cold War , however, this became unnecessary. Nevertheless, the field post used its own numbering system until 2004. The stamp of the Feldpostleitstelle in Darmstadt is an example . The guide number 6700 was chosen arbitrarily and had no connection with the postcodes of the cities of Darmstadt (then 6100) or Ludwigshafen am Rhein , which had 6700 at that time. Further examples are “731 Feldpost e” (Feldpostamt Prizren -Airfield) and “730 Feldpost b”.
Since January 1, 2005, the field post has also switched to an orderly system, so that since then the field post number can be used to determine the deployment. From this date onwards:
- Without number: Special field post offices in Germany (e.g. Kieler Woche )
- 1111: Special field post office for the open day in the Ministry of Defense
- From 2015, registered mail was again allowed at the special field post offices. B. knocked off with various four-digit field post number stamps z. B. 6421 at the Hamburg Port Birthday 2015.
- Since the introduction of the Bundeswehr Day in 2015, the field post has also been involved in various locations with a special field post office. Various four-digit field post number stamps were used, these were cut off on standard and registered letters.
- 6400–6409: Feldpostleitstelle Darmstadt
- 6410–6419: EUFOR mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- 6420–6429: KFOR mission in Kosovo
- 6430–6439: ISAF mission Afghanistan
- 6490a: EUFOR mission DR Congo , Libreville field post office , Gabon
- 6490b: EUFOR mission DR Congo, field post office Kinshasa , DR Congo
However, these postcodes only appear in the postmark. They are not part of the respective field post address, especially since there have been five-digit postcodes since 1993.
See also
literature
- Marc Baumann, Martin Langeder, Mauritius Much, Bastian Obermayer , Franziska Storz (eds.): Feldpost. Letters from German soldiers from Afghanistan . Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-498-00670-9 .
- Hellmuth Karasek (Ed.): Letters move the world . Volume 6: Field Post . teNeues, Kempen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8327-9733-1 .
Web links
- Letters and parcels worldwide - the Bundeswehr field post (armed forces base)
- The history of the field post (armed forces base)
- Greetings from home (armed forces base)
- The Bundeswehr Field Post (a private homepage)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Partner branch - information for the branch partners of Deutsche Post, issue 2 - 2015, p. 16
- ↑ A bridge back home: 20 years of field post. In: Press release from Deutsche Post DHL . May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012 .
- ↑ Partner branch - information for the branch partners of Deutsche Post, issue 2 - 2015, p. 16