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Dispatch from the Front: Deployed sergeant delivers Christmas everyday

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amber R. Kelly-Herard
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Although the holiday season has come and gone, a staff sergeant deployed here feels he brings a little bit of Christmas to his customers every day.

Anyone who walks into the mail room here could compare it to Santa's workshops with thousands of packages ranging in various sizes and shapes.

Staff Sgt. Oluwasegu Odusanya, 455th Expeditionary Communications Squadron Knowledge Operations NCO-in-charge, delivers mail to more than 6,000 Air Force personnel on Bagram.

"My main job is to make sure that the customers get their mail in a timely manner," said Sergeant Odusanya, deployed here from the 375th Communications Squadron at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. "When people come here to get their mail they get happy, so I feel like it's Christmas every day. I like that I can be a daily morale booster."

There are three Airmen working in Bagram's mailrooms. Sergeant Odusanya works in the east mail room and the other two Airmen work in the mailroom on the west side of base. Every day, the three Airmen meet at the base post office and collect the mail and then divide it between the east and west shops. The mail is then sorted among the different units, so that customers can collect their mail quickly.

When Sergeant Odusanya is not handling mail, he also handles shipping, security and records.

"This is very different from working at Scott, because at Scott we only have an official mail center, but here we handle official and personal mail," said the sergeant who is originally from Nigeria, Africa.

"Before I deployed, I did not know how important my job was," he continued. "There is a lot more mail here than stateside and so many processes that the mail has to go through, so I am thankful to be something different because it has really been eye opening for me."

Sergeant Odusanya is currently on his fourth deployment.

With one more month left to go on his six-month deployment, Sergeant Odusanya was here during the busiest time of the year, the holidays.

Last November, he handled 362,000 pieces of mail and in December he handled 332,000 pieces of mail. As of march 24, Sergeant Odusanya has handled more than 197,500 pieces of mail.

In addition to delivering mail, Sergeant Odusanya says he also enjoys interacting with his customers.

"I like to joke with them and have fun," said Sergeant Odusanya. "Working by yourself can get lonely, so you have to do what you can to make it interesting so the time goes by faster."