A partnership between the Postal Service and the State Department ensures that U.S. Mail gets to American diplomats and their families — no matter how remote the posting.
The Diplomatic Post Office, or DPO, is an arm of the State Department that works with USPS to deliver mail — “a make-or-break staple for morale,” according to Charles Weidler, chief of the department’s Diplomatic Post Office Division.
The DPO extends the reach of the American postal system to roughly 200 U.S. embassies, consulates and missions around the world, Weidler said. The program allows diplomatic employees to send and receive mail at domestic postage rates, regardless of their duty location.
Many serve in remote, economically challenged areas and in war-torn regions such as the Middle East and Ukraine. DPOs “provide a lifeline for employees stationed in regions where local mail systems are unreliable, insecure or nonexistent,” he said.
“DPO” was officially recognized as a valid overseas address on Jan. 18, 2009. In 2011, a tripartite agreement between the Postal Service and the State and Defense departments took the program out of the pilot stage and made it an established entity.
The Postal Service hosts a DPO presence at three USPS international service centers in Chicago, Miami and New York, and at the Jersey City Processing and Distribution Center.
Its motto is “Beyond borders, beyond barriers — DPO delivers.”
Weidler said that his staff of 13 has more than 400 years of postal experience in military, USPS and other federal agencies.
Last year, the program moved more than 11 million pounds of mail to more than 130 countries.
“Essentially, the DPO-USPS partnership provides a touch of home for members serving abroad,” Weidler said. “Its success is anchored in strong interagency coordination … and a shared commitment to ensuring that every diplomat, no matter how remote their assignment is, remains connected to home.”
“Primers,” a Postal Service explanatory column, appears occasionally in Link.
