DODI 4525.09 - Military Postal Service

Scope

DODI 4525.09 establishes DoD policy, assigns responsibilities, and prescribes procedures for the Military Postal Service. Issued 2018-07-10, the instruction cancelled and consolidated DoDI 4525.7 from 1981 and DoDI 4525.08 official mail management from 2006, bringing military postal operations and official mail under one instruction.

Audience

• The Military Postal Service Agency and service postal organizations.
• MPO, APO, FPO, and DPO operators, Marine Corps postal officers, MOS 0161.
• Official mail managers and unit commanders supervising postal operations.

Operative content

• Penalty mail. Federal agencies send official mail at government expense marked Official Business, Penalty for Private Use 300 dollars. The privilege limits to official correspondence, personal mail under penalty privileges is prohibited and reportable.
• Postage accountability. Stamp stock audits run monthly for active inventories and quarterly for reserve inventories, paragraph 3.11.c. Expenditure reports submit through SMART in AMPS no later than 7 days after the reporting period, paragraph 2.2.c.
• Official mail managers validate support agreements with tenant commands and their official mail accounts, paragraph 3.3.
• MPSA collects official mail volume data on its published cycle.

Content scope

MPS organization and responsibilities, post office designation and operations, mail accountability and security, official mail management, postal inspector general oversight, USPS interagency coordination, and mail routing and transportation.

Connection to higher policy

• 39 USC. The postal statutory authority.
• USPS Domestic and International Mail Manuals, and Handbook F101. The operating rules the MPS runs on.

Connection to Marine Corps doctrine and lower policy

• MCO 5110.4B. The Marine Corps implementation for MPOs, unit mailrooms, and official mail centers.
• IGMC postal checklists. Inspector guidance notes the checklist cites specific paragraphs and directs on-site verification against the current text.

Status

Active. Change 3 effective 2024-10-23. The current DoD-level military postal authority, published by OUSD Acquisition and Sustainment.