Defense Courier Station provides global distribution of classified and sensitive information

  • Published
  • By Sandra Simison
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The Defense Courier Station is tasked with delivering classified and sensitive material for military units, government agencies, and military contractors, as well as allied partners for the United States.

Even in today's digital world, much information cannot be sent digitally, so the courier's mission is to deliver those packages.

The number one priority is material security. Once a package is entered into the courier system, it is under constant control of at least two couriers at all times until it gets delivered to the customer's destination. The courier station is in charge of a nine-state region around Ohio.

"We ensure deliveries get to the right customer at the right place at the right time," said Master Sgt. Joachim Schaefer, station chief for the Defense Courier Station at Wright-Patterson. "We have certain required delivery dates and do our best to make them. We operate a hub and spoke network--like a wheel on a bike. If we receive material destined for California, we take it to the hub station and it is distributed to other stations. It is like a relay race throughout the courier service.

For instance, a package going overseas may have three or four courier stations to pass through until reaching the destination for delivery to the final customer, he said.

"We deliver anything from a small envelope to large pallets that weigh several thousand pounds. We don't technically know what is being shipped. The customer has to give us instructions. We ship top secret, classified cryptographic, COMSEC, cryptologic and National Security Agency material, air and space-borne imagery, any Foreign Military Sales, nuclear command and control, and also NATO material. We can't ship any currency, contraband, or liquids. The customer attests that the material is authorized," he said. "If the box is leaking, then we would question it because it may be something that is illegal and we would investigate at our end."

The courier station currently has 183 accounts and last year delivered about 3,400 pieces at 86,000 pounds total weight. Packages are flown out on C-12 aircraft, small prop planes or driven in trucks.  Mission routes vary between driving and flying for operational security, although it depends on the size of the material--oversized deliveries won't fit on a plane.

Plane missions are one-day missions usually flying out in the mornings and back by the afternoon. Road missions can be between two to three days. Last year, packages were driven about 45,000 miles and flown about 100 flight hours.

"The courier service is open to all Air Force Specialty Codes. Anyone within the ranks of staff sergeant to chief master sergeant may apply," said Schaefer. "The courier station falls under the United States Transportation Command. There are seven couriers here--currently five Air Force and two Army. Some of the other stations are Air Force and Navy and just a few are Air Force only, so it just depends on the station," said Schaefer.

"It is a logistics job, but we have aircraft mechanics, medical people, military police--all different AFSCs. It is good to work with other units to see different views on processes," he said.

According to Schaefer, the Defense Courier Station is a defense working capital fund, which is kind of like a non-profit organization. Customers are charged a flat rate per pound so it doesn't make a difference if shipping from here to Kentucky or from here to Germany. The flat rate basically pays for all the station's shipping expenses with the rate changing annually depending on shipping needs.