CHAPTER 11 MAIL DIRECTORY SERVICE Directory  service  is  provided  to  assist  you  in delivering  mail  to  personnel,  and  forwarding  or otherwise disposing of mail addressed to personnel no longer at your command.  When mail is addressed to a person who is not attached to an activity served by your post  office,  it  is  just  as  important  to  provide  proper disposition of this mail as it is to deliver the mail when the addressee is on board. Early disposition of mail is the basic purpose of mail directory service.  This is true whether the mail is to be delivered on board, forwarded when an addressee has transferred, held pending arrival of the addressee, or  given  treatment  appropriate  to  certain  other categories.  Examples of “certain other categories” are mail for casualties and unauthorized absentees. Each Navy command is required to maintain a mail directory file of all personnel receiving mail through the activity regardless of whether the command operates an MPO. This includes maintaining files on personnel ordered to report and personnel transferred from the activity. At commands that have an MPO, military postal clerks provide mail directory service as a part of the post office operation.  Commands that do not have an MPO, and those receiving mail service through a U.S. civil post office must maintain directory files as part of the unit mail clerk operation or mail orderly system. Under an agreement between USPS and DOD, DOD agrees  to  provide  directory  service  for  undeliverable- as-addressed  military  mail  and  endorse  each  piece  to show a forwarding address or reason for nondelivery. Bear in mind that even though the commanding officer is responsible for directory service, you, as an MPC, are the representative  of  the  commanding  officer  for  postal matters.  Thus, you have responsibility for operating and maintaining the directory service for your command. POSTAL DIRECTORY FUNCTIONS Learning  Objective:   Recall  the  procedures for   maintaining   directory   files   and   for processing directory mail. All  postal  activities  providing  mail  delivery service to individuals should maintain a directory file for personnel who receive mail through their facility. Normally, MPOs do not keep postal directory cards for personnel who are served through a “mail address only (MAO)” or subordinate unit mailroom.  Directory files should  include  a  record  of  all  personnel  served, including those on temporary additional duty (TAD), personnel who are due to report, and personnel who have transferred.  Directory files should be maintained as  one  file.   A  directory  for  onboard  personnel  and another file for transferred personnel is not necessary and should be avoided.   In addition, MPOs and unit mailrooms  should  provide  directory  service  for improperly addressed official mail. FILING INSTRUCTIONS The mail directory file consists of OPNAV Form 5110/5, Notice of Change of Address cards (see figure 11-1).    The  directory  cards  should  be  arranged  in alphabetical order, by last name, regardless of rank, rating, or status. Use a set of alphabetical separators to divide the cards (see figure 11-2).  Last names starting with the same letter are filed behind the same separator. Sometimes names such as Brown and Browne or Stevens and Stevenson will match letter for letter up to the end of the shorter name.   In such cases the name with the fewer letters is to be filed first; thus Brown should precede Browne, and Stevens should be filed before Stevenson.  If the last names are exactly alike, use an individual’s first name and possibly his middle name to determine the filing order. If  your  directory  is  large,  you  may  need  to  use additional separators within letters.   For example, S might be broken down into SA, SE, SM, and ST.  Last names beginning with the letter S should then be filed after  the  closest  preceding  second  letter  of  the separator, thus Schiller would go after SA; Slade after SE; Souder after SM; and Swain after ST.   You will learn from experience and the size of your directory whether  your  card  file  should  be  subdivided  within letters. The postal directory file for individuals presently assigned  to  your  command  should,  as  a  minimum, contain the complete name, rate/rank, social security 11-1