Who remembers standing in formation for mail call? Does the military still conduct mail call?

Thank you for responding Sgt Charles Welling
I think your response would fit better into another question
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/who-remembers-pay-call-what-country-ies-did-you-receive-pay-call-in?page=20&urlhash=5449000

LTC Stephen F. - Please feel free to transfer my response to another question.

Thank you for responding SSG Jeffery Payne for making us aware that you also think of mail call as "always a good time of the day. News from home was always nice to get. You were always happy to get mail."
I expect your experience is common to most, even those who received 'dear john' letters.
FYI SP5 Jeannie Carle SPC Chris Bayner-Cwik SPC Diana Rodriguez SPC Diana D. SSG Diane R. LTC Hillary Luton Maj Kim Patterson Sgt Kelli Mays SFC (Join to see) SGT Elizabeth S SSG(P) James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" MSG Andrew White SSG(P) (Join to see) 1SG Steven Imerman COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen MAJ Rene De La Rosa TSgt David L.

Thank you SSgt Daniel d'Errico for responding and making us aware that your TI worked to dampen your spirits by letting you know you had "five more months before I could even start thinking about leave" after you received pictures from your parents vacation to Mexico in 1971.
FYI TSgt Joe C. TSgt David L. Sgt Kelli Mays SMSgt Lawrence McCarter CMSgt Mark Schubert CMSgt (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown SSgt (Join to see) Col Carl Whicker Sgt (Join to see) Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan

Thank you SSG Terry Bruns for respondiung and making us aware that you remember mail call while deployed to Iraq.

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Bill Koski CW5 (Join to see) MSG Brad Sand SGM Steve Wettstein SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Miller SP5 Robert Ruck SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT MSG Andrew White SFC William FarrellSPC Margaret HigginsMaj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey TSgt Joe C. ~106303:SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL]

FYI TSgt David L. SSgt Robert Marx

Thank you MSgt Bedell Toro for responding with a great sense of humor :-)
I imagine anybody sent virtual cookies or fruitcake would be PO'd in this modern age :-)
Of course there has been experimentation with 3D printing of edible stuff based on sugar - that would fit in with many cookies :-)
FYI SGT Mark Anderson SGT Jim Arnold SSgt Terry P. Maj Robert Thornton SFC (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarland MSG Andrew White Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT (Join to see) SGT (Join to see) CWO3 (Join to see) PO1 William "Chip" Nagel

Thank you, my friend SSG Robert "Rob" Wentworth for responding and making us aware that you have great memories of mail call in formation during BCT & Air Defense AIT. I expect that was one event that having a name beginning with a letter at the end of the alphabet was not a disadvantage.
FYI SPC Mark Beard SPC Woody Bullard PO2 John Zodun A1C Ian Williams Col Carl Whicker COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Timothy Ryan Yantis 1SG Henry YatesSSG James Yellis LTC (Join to see) SGT Ricky Young CMC Robert YoungSGT Jim Z. PO2 Tim ZemanSPC Christian Ziegler

I remember passing out mail at end-of-day formation as a platoon sergeant well until the mid-80's. That way, I knew who was getting mail and who wasn't. For a young soldier, far from home and possibly overseas, that can drain morale quickly. I could at least foresee attitude issues. Forewarned was forearmed. I always made sure to pay more attention to things like that.

Thank you for responding SFC (Join to see) Mail call was looked forward to except those wo received "Dear John" letters.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord

Thank you SFC Robert Walton for responding in detail and sharing your experience of mail call. The humor of drill sergeants was not always clear to a casual observer as your story reminds us.
Generally mail call was conducted based on however it was stacked and sorted by last name. In that case, unlike many other roll-call type experiences those with last names at the end of the alphabet had an even chance of having their name called for mail early on in my experience at least :-)
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord

I was TDY out of McGuire AFB to Fort Lee, Va. I had sure-pay ... I was at Ft. Lee 5 weeks for an advanced Field Baker Course.. The wing needed one more to go so I got on the list.. it’d be neat, a month at Ft. Lee, back to McGuire AFB for a month and process out for PCS to Viet Nam.. “But A1C Herrst your AFSC is 622 (Cook)!” “ And If you look at Food Service Manual I can also fill a baker slot. Oh yeah, look in my jacket, you’ll see I did the books for baker(back in them days Cook and baker were separate AFSCs.. ). Remember back a few months I filled that baker slot while
SSGT Golden was in the hospital, and Sgt Schmidt took Golden’s slot and the other 2 guys moved over a slot each.. and them flaky biscuits.. ? I did those.. The German chocolate cake? That was me.. ( I came in day before, made the pecan frosting .. went back and slept and back again at 10 that night to bake cakes.. Sgt. Schmidt
didn’t think I could do it .. And next day them 2 German Air Force crews came in.. I packed Them 2 cakes to eat on the trip home.. .. We got a nice letter back.. that’s how the Lt.
Found out we sent those cakes..
Their Captain said it was as good as their own baker’s cakes.. (yeah, bragging some, sometimes gotta do that).. I got called In on the cakes.. The Lt. Asked how they got the section’s direct address. I gave it to their Captain, he asked for it.. It had to go through all the routing stops .. So I was at that School about 5 weeks.. All field baking....
Some bread went to the field kitchen DH and the rest went to nearby Dining facilities.. Some was braided.. made pretzel bread.. that went over good.. rolls.. We got left alone and one of the Army baker instructors had us make the pretzel dough.. We sent the rolls to the Officer mess .. kinda accidentally on purpose.(?)... The said none was wasted.. it was fun getting creative in the Field.. it was supposed to be a learn’g experience.. When I got to Nam I did get assigned as a Airmen’s DH Cook. When I suggested we do pizza. They gave me the go ahead,, the baker’s made the dough and we got the pizzas made.. We greased the pans but also sprinkled corn meal on the pans.. The Airmen went crazy over them.. We had torn apart some of those pressed steaks and marinated in some Worcestershire.. and a beefbase tomato juice brother the. Chopped and grilled a little and then on the pizza.. Philly cheese steak pizza. Some Captain from Quartermaster Corps said the Philly Cheese steak name is copyrighted... “Sir, we are several thousand miles from Philly, they are not going to know !” “I’ll know,!” And he walked out of our kitchen area.. We still made them .. just a different name.. cheese, steak ‘n’ pepper pizza and left Philly out..
We tried doing cheese, steak n peppper rolls.. with tomato sauce..
We priced it out and made a variation card for the recipe card file.. Sent it in to Air Force menu board.. it took 3 months for approval... it was our variation.
We did some other stuff ,, they said too time consuming.. Heck we had several DHs on base(4 I believe)... Somebody was doing some calculating on some numbers in my jacket and didn’t see some numbers For TIS/TIG were for AF Reserve.. so they got grouped in with other numbers and I put on E-4 Sgt Early ..? When I crossed from Reserve to AD there was a imminent emergency for some A1Cs
That had their 5 level a minimum of 6 months ..and about a year in grade... I fell in there.. So I transferred over.. No loss of rank.
Whoo-Hoo! I had also incidentally
Filled 1st Cook spots several times,
Been a shift leader 4 times (weather sitreps, I watched that weather..,I thought that storm come earlier the way that wind was coming out of N.W. So I got on my way.. cut Classes at noon and called the 1SGT, He agreed and he picked me up and He and his wife (she was unit train’g NCO)headed fir Selfridge ANG/Reserve Base .. others arrived that evening.. A few cooks , all Airmen.. I was surprised no Sergeants were in the grp. So I headed up our group. That surprised me.. there were those been in longer. Not much, I had extended experience from out in the world cooking.. I know that shouldn’t count. The Airmen I worked with did it a few times a month,, They did just enough CDCs
To keep from getting demoted.. although it did happen to one of them.. In that 8 to 9 months them guys (including the NCOs and FSO)
Had faith in my skills and leadership ability.. I still got guidance, I appreciated that.. didn't Always need it but still appreciated.. So in a tight sit-rep.. No NCO Cooks.. not for s few hours.. We had a quick head session and got the jobs divided.. We got breakfast going and on the line.. we did a modification of lunch menu. Changed some items up.. We had a FSO (Food Svc Ofcr) that knew his way around a kitchen(He’d been s diet tech before becoming an officer/dietician.. The man was willing to get his hands in the pot..
So we worked together.. got lunch out too.. More trickled in as the roads got clear.. The FSO fell back and let the NCOs step in.. I briefed them on who was doing what.., The TSGT has me fall back to 1st C. that day.. that happened a few more times that winter that I was on top until they got there.. I was consistently checking my Zjscket for progress reports.. I was impatient.. (why were they taking so long?)... I got called in to the FSO’s office and he laid my jacket in front of me.. “I think this is what you were looking for.. what you were looking at was a jacket the shift leader had.. He was writing and passing them up, that’s why you didn’r See for a few months.”
That was when he brought up the
Change to A.D. if I wanted to do it.. I told him could I do in June when I had a year in grade as A1C..
“I thought you put A1C on in August
‘70... I explained that if looked in my 201.. I never got to finish.. he’d already seen it and was stringing me along.. Now jump forward to
Viet Nam.. and the throwing the numbers together.. from Reserves and Active.. So after getting SGT and holding it 7 months... I also tested for SSGT and earned it.. They called me in and told me of the foul-up.. The Cmdr. Said I I had the rank on more than 180 days, I had good performance endorsements.. It was 3 months more I had the SSGT. Sewn on and working as a Shift leader.. i’d Already worked the slot as a Sergeant.. a de facto sitrep ..
Another Sgt thought he should had got it.. I kind of agreed (in my heart), The FSO and Cmdr said I had the line number, I was next .. I stepped in and did the job.. then that 3 months later I was wearing SSGT. And had the shift.. A couple of the “brothers were going to play
the “race card” .. they said a decision by JAG that not enough
In “other ethnic groups” were being promoted to SSGT. JAG wanted the AF to “cook the books” in regards to promotion .. Hers’s where I got to back off.. Some may just have a hard time because of comprehension.. There were prob’ly other mitigating circumstances some brothers were NOT promoted.. that’s NOT for me to digress .. The commander said he wasn’t promoting any token SSGTS..., not during his tour.. ..the proverbial “stuff” hit the fan.. There were SGTs at other bases that met the quota... The Cmdr was due to Rotate a month after myself..
He looked at their scores.. he wasn’t happy “cooking the books..
and commented In his transfer of command ... in a loose letter.. The exec took over and put the letter back in.. He in turn redlined them guys for just cause((they didn’t measure up to the level they held as a sergeant, he noted instances of questionable conduct.. so how are they going to measure up as a SSGT.?).... The SGT. That served as clerk during that sitrep rotated shortly after myself.. Stopped by and visited..and shared some confidential scuttlebutt.. I told him that what he told me was supposed to be between him and the Cmdr. He just left. Don’t go telling anybody else.. it stops here .. I know, I just said it.. no names though, he told me names..
“Just be on your way, I just forgot where you were going.., so be gone!”.. I had to part company at that point with him.. what’s he going to be like at a gaining unit?
At some Reserve unit.. He said in Colorado or Wyoming maybe.. never took the liberty to make a note.. I had to think on that.. I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass on that the AF cannot have confidence in his ability to secure an Airman’s personal information.. I’m just glad he didn’t tell me too much..(?)..
After hd’d Been gone a few days,
I went in and talked to my 1SGT. and didn’t go through the orderly rm clerk.. I don’t think any Airman should have his information shared with unauthorized person(s).. I gave him the Sgt’s name and rank.,, I didn’t know where he was going..
so that was the Toss-up.. I was informed later by the 1SGT, the search was no avail.. I wish I had more.. I had left ‘Nam and went to Thailand for 1-1/2 years, then to Travis. That Sgt. Had gone to Taiwan for 1-1/2 years. .. 1SGT asked where he just left from..
his Sqdn. He took a chance and told that he thinks it was the Services Sqdn Section.... Therf were 2 clerks that left.. the other one was a month before.. So they were about to give the Sgt!s name after vetting the 1SGT.. .. As far as the information didn’t involve anybody else in the Sqdn in Taiwan.. both Cmdr’s spoke to each other.. The Cmdr in Taiwan said he would handle it.. .. My Cmdr. Kept my name confidential and would release to AFOSI if and when the sit-rep warrants..

LTC Stephen F. Yes sir I did. Guy got a carnival sized bag of Popcorn and DS asked if he wanted to eat it. Private said yes, DS said it's your popcorn...you eat it. Private got through half the bag and started closing the bag. DS said what are you doing? Private said I'm all done DS, DS said no that's your popcorn....you eat it. DS made him eat entire bag and chug 2 canteens...Private proceeds to blow the popcorn all over the the formation area, and the DS made him clean the entire area.

Thank you for weighing in, my friends SSgt Boyd Herrst and SSG(P) (Join to see)

When I was there in 2013, we had mail call. Sometimes packages of goodies would mysteriously disappear before they could be delivered, but otherwise mail call was a highlight.

Thank you for responding, my friend SGT Carl Blas and making us aware that mail call was very informal by military standards :-)
"Cluster f*ck of guys crowded by the mail clerk."To be honest two pieces of real mail in four years may not be a lot. Nowadays junk mail seems to be the bulk of mail delivered too many.
FYI Maj Robert Thornton CPT Scott SharonSFC Greg Bruorton SFC Michael Young 1stSgt Eugene Harless MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy 1SG Carl McAndrews SPC Douglas Bolton SSG David Andrews Sgt John H. SGT Mark Halmrast Cynthia Croft Sgt Vance Bonds PO1 H Gene Lawrence SGT Brent Scott CW5 John M. CMSgt (Join to see) SFC Armando Sanchez

LTC Stephen F. - Thank you Sir, you're right, alot of Junk Emails.