Q9-9.     Personal  accountable  mail  should  be delivered using what PS form? Now turn to appendix 1 to check your answers. SHIPBOARD AND OVERSEAS MPOS Learning  Objective:    Recall  the  procedures for processing incoming mail at a shipboard or overseas MPO. Aboard ship and at overseas MPO’s your duties as a military postal clerk will involve the actual handling, sorting, and distribution of all incoming mail.  If you are aboard ship and are in a United States port of call, you will pick up your mail at the local civilian post office.   If your ship is in a foreign port overseas, the mail is usually received through the nearest MPO or FMC. If there is no U.S. military post office in the area, you  will  receive  your  mail  from  a  commercial  air carrier, military air carrier, local foreign post office, U.S. Embassy or Consulate. When your ship is at sea, you may receive mail by highline,  carrier  onboard  delivery  (COD),  or helicopter.    Highline  is  the  oldest  method  used  to transfer articles from one small ship to another; this method is referred to as underway replenishment.  The COD brings cargo, mail, and passengers to the aircraft carrier.   Some of the cargo and mail will be for other ships that are operating with the carrier.   The carrier must either use highline or helicopter to transfer cargo, mail, and passengers to the other ships. Also, the ships in company with the carrier send their outgoing mail, cargo and passengers to the carrier so they can be put aboard the COD for further transfer ashore. Although you will find some of the explanations and  procedures  in  this  section  to  be  repetitive,  you must look at them in the context of operating within a different  environment—shipboard  and  overseas military post offices. MILITARY ORIGIN DESTINATION INFORMATION SYSTEM (MODIS) Before  sorting  and  delivering  incoming  mail,  or transferring mail to ships of a battle group, overseas postal activities and ships on deployment must record transit  time  data  from  bar-coded  labels  attached  to priority mail pouches and OSPs, and from labels on trays  containing  First-Class  letter  mail.    Overseas shorebased postal activities must also record data from bar-coded  labels  attached  to  Express  Mail  articles addressed for delivery to overseas shore installations. MODIS  is  the  system  used  to  measure  transit times.  Postal clerks use the system, which consists of handheld  computers  and  laser  scanners  to  scan  the bar-coded  labels.     When  the  scanning  has  been completed  for  the  day,  the  scanned  bar-code  data  is transmitted  via  Streamlined  Automated  Logistics Transmission  System  (SALTS)  to  SALTS  central located  at  the  Naval  Inventory  Control  Point  in Philadelphia, PA. The purposes of collecting transit time data are to accomplish the following:    Measure   USPS,   air   carriers,   and   DOD performance in the movement of military mail    Monitor mail movement    Assess transit times    Identify the inefficient or misrouting of mail    Make   recommendations   to   mail   routing authorities to correct mail movement problems or errors MODIS  scanning  is  required  each  time  mail  is received, whether the mail is for your command or is mail  you  have  received  for  further  transfer.    Before scanning  mail,  verify  the  set-up  data  is  correct  and ensure  the  laser  scanner  is  not  pointed  in  a  way  that would  do  harm  to  your  eyes  or  the  eyes  of  other personnel in the post office. Postal  clerks  assigned  to  ships  receive  MODIS training  by  the  appropriate  FLTCINC  postal  officer before deployment.   This training consists of how to correctly scan mail, download the data, and transmit it to  SALTS  central.   At  overseas  postal  activities,  the postal officer is responsible for providing the training. Postal clerks can also refer to the MODIS User Guide for the correct operation of MODIS equipment. The  command  postal  officer  is  responsible  for ensuring  the  MODIS  equipment  is  accounted  for, maintained in operating condition, and safeguarded.  If the  equipment  becomes  damaged,  the  postal  officer must investigate the reason for the damage and report the circumstances to the FLTCINC postal officer.  As the person using the equipment on a daily basis, you must keep the postal officer informed at all times of the status of MODIS equipment and report any problems to him or her so corrective action can be taken.  It may also  be  necessary  to  return  equipment  for  repair  or replacement. 9-9