The Mail in T2K

[Raellus]

I've been thinking about how troops would behave when they arrived back home from campaigning overseas- in particular, U.S. troops. This got me thinking about the mail- the old fashioned paper mail.

By 2000, most troops on foreign soil (or in another state) wouldn't have received much (if any) news, personal or otherwise, from "The World" since the TDM. Once they return to their home country, a lot of them, I'd imagine, would want to get back to their loved ones ASAP. I, for one, would want to at least know for certain what had become of my family while I was away. For this reason, I think that desertion could become a big problem. Otherwise disciplined, loyal soldiers, would go AWOL to seek out their loved ones.

Anyway, one way to head this off and win over the general public at the same time would be to reestablish a mail service. "Snail" mail is quickly becoming an anacronism, but in '97, e-mail wasn't quite as widely used as it is now and, thanks to EMP and other effects of multiple nuclear strikes the world over, it would become nearly impossible to communicate electronically. So, good ol' fashioned mail would make a comeback. Only the military would have the resources to get the mail moving again.

In the U.S., both Milgov and Civgov would have ample incentive to reestablish mail service. It would help decrease desertion rates and improve the morale of the citizenry. An efficient communications network would also be crucial to overall reconstruction efforts as well as the prosecution of the civil war.

Lastly, escorting mail shipments between cities/states would make for some interesting adventure opportunities for players and GMs.

What are your thoughts on the mail in the Twilight Years? How have you handled mail in your T2K universe?

[natehale1971]

Actually, this was important in my groups home campaigns.

mail services was a TOP priority. In fact most postal services was handled on horse back or motorcycle couriers. and even in warzones postal service personnel where not harmed by even the most insane marrauders.

in Europe, postal service personnel go from one cantonment to the next, not worried about what allegiance they are part of. the neutrality of the post has been assured by all sides.

this is how 'communication' between enemies has been done. allowed for the exchange of prisoners and the like..

[Abbott Shaull]

What mail service there would be in 2000 would be highly localized, don't see interstate mail service.

Yes it would be one of the services that any government would try to reinstate, just to help get things back to normal.

[Targan]

What mail service there would be in 2000 would be highly localized, don't see interstate mail service..
I agree. The PCs in my campaign were asked by MilGov forces in the Norfolk area to carry mail and military documents to the 78th Division HQ in New Jersey but it wasn't general civilian mail.

[headquarters]

Our campaogn has ebbed and flowed on the "encounter charts " going from anarchy to organizd to terrorized you might say .

There has been an operating postal service at times ,but the current situation means that people most likely have their condiments out and a firepit all light and ready as they wait for the mail man...

[Rainbow Six]

I would tend to agree with the view that international mail certainly would have pretty much ceased after the Tanksgiving Day Massacre. Certainly I always assumed that for US troops in Europe there would be no letters after that time.

One thing I am introducing in my alternative Survivors Guide to the UK is the concept of the King's Messengers. In real life there are currently Queen's Messengers, many of whom are retired military personnel, whose job is to travel around the UK's various Embassies and High Commissions as Diplomatic couriers; the King's Messengers in my SGUK will travel between HMG's various enclaves delivering by hand important messages and packages. (They are titled King's Messengers because in my timeline King William IV is on the throne).

[kato13]

A little distracted in the beginning but I will get to mail

The origin of the US Judicial term "Circuit" as as it is seen in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals is derived from a circuit path that a full Judicial court would travel when frontier towns were not large enough to support major judicial functions.

http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/25.1/images/fraker_fig01b.jpg

All the necessary courtroom personnel would travel as a group from county to county to provide judicial services. Judges, stenographers, bailiffs, prosecutors, defense attorneys and civil litigators stayed in the country seat for a couple weeks to resolve the cases that needed to go to court (as now most cases were settled out of court but with the lawyer's assistance).

I imagine that both governments (Milgov/Civgov) in an effort to establish normalcy within their controlled territories would establish secure paths and use them to do the following:
Send Mail (Weekly or Bi Weekly)
Send Basic Medical services (Monthly or Bi Monthly)
Send Advanced medical services (every 4 months)
Send Legal teams (every 6 months)

I originally came up with this plan for my Morrow Project Game, as I planned to actually have my project work (they wake up after 5 years with a functioning prime base) but I wanted something that would keep my teams moving.

[chico20854]

The mail forms an important part of the recovery plan the DC Group is working on.

After the TDM mail service pretty much breaks down worldwide (except for the area under control of the Franco-Belgian Union). As Milgov attempts to coordinate the recovery of the US, the mail forms both a carrot and a stick.

The delivery of mail within Milgov enclaves raises the legitimacy of that government. As Milgov is able to start delivery of mail between enclaves it furthers that legitimacy and buys acceptance from the local citizens. It is also a huge morale booster for troops, both overseas and in CONUS, to send and receive mail. On the air and seaborne bridge between the CENTCOM AOR and CONUS, mail receives a high priority, and, frankly, on the ships it is a negligible load in terms of capacity.

With that said, mail delivery is an almost impossible task. Military units are generally able to account for personnel present, but accounting for those KIA, WIA or MIA over the preceding years is spotty, despite the best effort of staffs (yeah, those S-1 weenies that everyone always wants to grab and send to the front lines to make up for infantry losses). But the much bigger task is locating civilians in CONUS. After the nuclear attacks, refugee camps, conventional wars in Alaska and Southwest and years of post-nuclear chaos, finding any particular person is a gargantuan task. This is where the carrot and stick come in.

In Milgov enclaves, residents will be required to register with the authorities. Registration entitles individuals to a ration card, which also allows passage through checkpoints. This registration forms the basis of the long-hallowed census needed to allocate resources (and post-martial-law political power). One item of the registration is also recording of an address. (And some ad-hoc address designating has to take place... with 10,000 refugees living at a rural county fair grounds there will have to be some building location information standardized, etc.).

Milgov is able to get people to do this for a couple of reasons. First, they have the guns. Second, as petroleum flows back from the Persian Gulf and Milgov starts coordinating efforts between enclaves some communications is restored between the enclaves. Lighter than air craft and high-efficiency civilian aircraft begin a regular circuit between enclaves on a limited basis. While traditional mail is not a major part of the cargo, data is. Each month, the courier aircraft carries a computer (either one that had been shielded from EMP, not in an area affected by EMP, or equipped with a Reset device) that carries the latest registration information (including the rolls of those in the military under Milgov command). That database is distributed to each enclave, and made available to the public (printed like phone books in some areas with an abundance of resources, in searchable databases on public-access Reset-equipped computers at registration sites, and with traveling civil-affairs teams), allowing people to locate their friends and relatives. (There is also a dark side to this, with false names, vindictive ex-spouses, and difficult human situations - a returned POW discovers his wife has remarried and his child thinks new new husband is his father and so on).

Some of the data moved between enclaves is also text files - email that is transmitted physically rather than electronically. Delivery is a problem, as printing resources are scarce.

One major part of the reconciliation between Milgov and Civgov is the expansion of the registration effort to areas under Civgov control.

The need to keep the data coordinated and increase public access to it is a major challenge. The long-term answer is to restore the internet, but that requires a number of other major tasks to be done - the restoration of power for running computers, the restoration of communications (telephone, microwave or fiber-optic) lines between enclaves, and provision of functional computers in great enough quantity to allow public access.

Physical delivery of mail is farther away, as it is more resource intensive to move paper than electrons.

So some thoughts for you guys to ponder...

[Webstral]

I like the idea that mail service backs the legitimacy of the rival US governments. I agree with all those who have asserted that reestablishing mail service would be a top priority for any government in recovery mode in late 2000 and early 2001.

Webstral

[Raellus]

An interesting scenario would be competing Civgov and Milgov forces trying to interdict one another's mail services as a way of discrediting the opposing faction... Mail-Wars!

Once circuits were established, in disputed areas, it wouldn't be too difficult to establish an ambush to snap up the weekly (or whatever) mail service. In addition to the morale/PR effects of intercepting the mail, it could also be a way to glean low level intel.

In a way, it's kind of a throwback to the 19th century- like trying to intercept the enemy's mail packet (ship) during the "Age of Sail" or snaring the Pony Express courier or stagecoach in America's "Wild West".

[JimmyRay73]

While I hate to bring up critically panned Kevin Costner movies, this discussion pretty much points out why myself and my old buddy Rocky were big fans of "The Postman."

Regular (or at least semi-regular) mail service would be extremely important to backing claims of legitimacy for any government for two reasons: 1) That government would need lines of communication across its territory, and 2) the citizenry would be more likely to put their faith in a group that can keep up/restore contact with distant friends and family. A one-shot convention game I played in years ago revolved around CivGov and MilGov groups running mail packets in HumVees.

[pmulcahy11b]

Just as long as they don't deliver the bills anymore!

[pmulcahy11b]

Just as long as they don't deliver the bills anymore!

Hmmm...quoting myself...

But anyway, re-establishing bill delivery and payment delivery and delivery of goods might at some point become vital to re-establishing a commerce system, making a postal system even more important.

[Abbott Shaull]

Yeah I am reminded by the movie/book postman too.

It is one of those things we don't think much about in this day of age, where if you don't have an option of meeting someone face to face. You have phones, cell phones, pagers, e-mail, and instant messaging to get your idea and thoughts out to others. If they go away the snail mail may be the only way left to that, and we take it for granted.

Yeah Paul the lack of getting bills would be nice, but a needed evil I guess for civilization.

[Raellus]

For some reason, I started thinking about this topic again today. I've been toying with the idea of a campaign where the PCs are crewmen on a gun truck convoy for quite a while now, but I couldn't come up with any kind of story hook beyond the standard "stuck behind enemy lines" trope. Then it dawned on me- make the gun trucks mail trucks and send the PCs on an long-haul interstate mail run. Now I've got a clear objective for the group. And it's not going to be a milk run point A to point B type mission. One washed out bridge and the mission's going to be anything but routine.

Here's a generic Mail Delivery Unit. This ad-hoc team is embarking on the first of-its-kind interstate mail run between relatively secure American city X and relatively secure American city Y (location of campaign TBD), a round trip of several hundred miles, much of it through unsecured territory.

Scout: M1009 CUCV w/ siren/emergency vehicle lights, spotlight, and loudspeaker

Command vehicle: HMMWV ARMT Carrier, Armored: M1025A1 w/ M60

Mail truck 1: Hillbilly armored M35 2.5 ton truck w/ M60 & M79 GL

Mail truck 2: Hillbilly armored M35 2.5 ton truck w/ M60

Repair & refueling vehicle: HMMWV, CGO/TRP Carrier: M988A1 w/ 1000 liter (1 ton) tank trailer

The M35s are essentially classic gun trucks, with a gunner's box forward directly behind the crew cab. The mail (thousands of letters, a couple hundred small parcels, and a plot twist or two) is stored behind the gunner's box in an armored, covered compartment. Each vehicle in the convoy will have a crew of 3-4 men.

The mission's importance can't be overstated. Reestablishing interstate mail service will add legitimacy to the military government by demonstrating it's ability to restore services to an area largely abandoned by the federal government for going on two years now. It will also boost the morale of the communities that it serves. Of course, there are certain elements at work that wish not to see this happen...

Aside from the expected (by now, perhaps, cliché) obstacles, I've brainstormed a couple of curveballs that should be new to the players. The more I think about this, the more I want to do it. I only wish I had more time to devote to gaming.

Constructive suggestions are welcome.

[Sanjuro]

I must have missed this first time round:
in my timeline King William IV is on the throne.
Twilight 1837?

[Rainbow Six]

I must have missed this first time round:

Twilight 1837?

LOL - Twilight typo. Should be William V.

[mikeo80]

I agree with what has been said above. Both MilGov and CivGov would make mail delivery a priority. In a post TDM world, just getting a letter from Aunt Sue that she and Uncle Bill are doing ok is a wonderfull tonic to the every day struggle to grow food and stay alive.

There is another reason the mail becomes important. Both MilGov and CivGov proclaim that they are the "true" government, supporting the Constitution. So a census as decreed in Article One, Section Three becomes a focal point. Both governments need to establish legitimacy, and find oout jus how many people of what ages they have in their areas of control. This, of course, will lead to such things as organized taxes, control of the movement and type of trade occuring in their area, and other necessary duties of a government.

My $0.02

Mike

[Wolf sword]

My thought is to have one of the local merchants caravan handle the mail they swing through town every 2 or 3 weeks they know a lot of people and it is something that they can charge for also.

[Raellus]

My thought is to have one of the local merchants caravan handle the mail they swing through town every 2 or 3 weeks they know a lot of people and it is something that they can charge for also.

I agree that private merchants or civilian volunteers would handle at least some of the mail (likely on a more localized level) but security would probably be a major issue for them. They'd also need to be familiar, reliable individuals for people to trust them with their messages and/or packages. There's an accountability issue and, if civilians are taking care of the mail, the military can't really take credit for reestablishing services.

Perhaps some sort of Army payroll is also being transported along with the mail, requiring additional security precautions. I'm not sure what pay would look like c. 2000, but it's something to consider.

[Rainbow Six]

I agree that private merchants or civilian volunteers would handle at least some of the mail (likely on a more localized level) but security would probably be a major issue for them. They'd also need to be familiar, reliable individuals for people to trust them with their messages and/or packages. There's an accountability issue and, if civilians are taking care of the mail, the military can't really take credit for reestablishing services.

Perhaps some sort of Army payroll is also being transported along with the mail, requiring additional security precautions. I'm not sure what pay would look like c. 2000, but it's something to consider.

Maybe in an attempt to make themselves look more legitimate (particularly if the troops are from Milgov) and give the impression to the populace that things are getting back to normal, the Mail Delivery Unit might have one - or more - United States Postal Service employees with them? Of course, said employee(s) may have their own reasons for wanting to be on the mission...

[Raellus]

Maybe in an attempt to make themselves look more legitimate (particularly if the troops are from Milgov) and give the impression to the populace that things are getting back to normal, the Mail Delivery Unit might have one - or more - United States Postal Service employees with them? Of course, said employee(s) may have their own reasons for wanting to be on the mission...

I was thinking the very same thing.

[Bullet Magnet]

Article I Section Eight of the US Constitution grants Congress the power to "establish post offices and post roads."
So I agree with the assertion that anyone trying to make the claim of being the "legitimate" government of the US would make use of this to back up their claim.

It'd probably cost more than the 42 cent stamp we have now (or is it 44 cents now?), but as others pointed out, TDM kind of put a lot of things to a halt at the 1997 level, when email was not as predominant, so the use of the USPS was still the first choice for many at that time. In the T2K universe, email is off the table, and phones for the most part also, so all that's left is the mail.

[stormlion1]

A goverment, Milgov or Civgov would best be served by setting up post offices in a given area that require the locals to register to make use of the postal services. This registration would have the dual purpose of creating a database of people using the service and actually be used to find persons in a displaced population but also recording people living in a area for CivGov or MilGov own use. At that point its as simple as setting up delivery between these offices and getting people to show up there to get there mail. Essentially everyone gets a post office box and the post office becomes a central point in the area.

[Rainbow Six]

A goverment, Milgov or Civgov would best be served by setting up post offices in a given area that require the locals to register to make use of the postal services.

That makes a lot of sense. After all, there's little point in carrying mail for several hundred miles over potentially hostile terrain unless you know the recipient is a) alive and b) still living in said City. So presumably there would need to be some sort of registration process.

The sender would also need to know the recipient is alive, so any lists compiled could then be posted in a central location (e.g. the town square), allowing people to know if their friends / relatives are still alive. Of course, the down side of publishing lists of survivors in that fashion would be if someone wanted to use the information in a nefarious way (New America, to compile lists of 'undesirables', the guy whose ex wife moved to the next town / State etc to get away from him, the stalker who always had a thing for that cute girl that worked as a sports reporter for the local Fox affiliate before the war, etc, etc).

[Tegyrius]

For some reason, I started thinking about this topic again today. I've been toying with the idea of a campaign where the PCs are crewmen on a gun truck convoy for quite a while now, but I couldn't come up with any kind of story hook beyond the standard "stuck behind enemy lines" trope. Then it dawned on me- make the gun trucks mail trucks and send the PCs on an long-haul interstate mail run. Now I've got a clear objective for the group.

I like this a lot. It aligns with my own preferred campaign style, which isn't as homogenous as v1's default all-Army, all-Europe assumptions.

And it's not going to be a milk run point A to point B type mission. One washed out bridge and the mission's going to be anything but routine.

Given that, the team might be better served with more engineering and maintenance support than a HMMWV pulling a tank trailer. Perhaps a HEMTT with 5-ton crane operating in the "water buffalo" role, with a bunch of 55-gallon fuel drums or a non-trailered fuel tank strapped down in the load bed?

Also, depending on the local political environment, this might make for a mixed team, with a couple of civilian representatives (CivGov or local enclave) riding along to reassure any anti-MilGov communities along the route. Part of MilGov's long-term strategy should be to re-establish civilian governance as per the Constitution, so visible steps toward that goal would, ironically, establish MilGov's short-term legitimacy as much as actual mail service would.

- C.

[Raellus]

A goverment, Milgov or Civgov would best be served by setting up post offices in a given area that require the locals to register to make use of the postal services. This registration would have the dual purpose of creating a database of people using the service and actually be used to find persons in a displaced population but also recording people living in a area for CivGov or MilGov own use. At that point its as simple as setting up delivery between these offices and getting people to show up there to get there mail. Essentially everyone gets a post office box and the post office becomes a central point in the area.

Agreed.

That makes a lot of sense. After all, there's little point in carrying mail for several hundred miles over potentially hostile terrain unless you know the recipient is a) alive and b) still living in said City. So presumably there would need to be some sort of registration process.


Agreed. Perhaps this registration for mail service would be a roundabout way to conduct a semi-formal census as well.


Given that, the team might be better served with more engineering and maintenance support than a HMMWV pulling a tank trailer. Perhaps a HEMTT with 5-ton crane operating in the "water buffalo" role, with a bunch of 55-gallon fuel drums or a non-trailered fuel tank strapped down in the load bed?

That is an option. A HEMTT is a big, heavy, gas-guzzling beast, though.

Also, depending on the local political environment, this might make for a mixed team, with a couple of civilian representatives (CivGov or local enclave) riding along to reassure any anti-MilGov communities along the route. Part of MilGov's long-term strategy should be to re-establish civilian governance as per the Constitution, so visible steps toward that goal would, ironically, establish MilGov's short-term legitimacy as much as actual mail service would.

Absolutely.

[Tegyrius]

That is an option. A HEMTT is a big, heavy, gas-guzzling beast, though.

Yeah, I was thinking about that after I posted. Maybe something in between a HEMTT and a HMMWV, then - even a requisitioned civilian model with some useful equipment mounted?

ETA: Something like this (http://www.ojwatson.com/index.php/blog/post/productivity-key-in-mechanic-crane-truck-creations-from-stellar-industries-/).

- C.

[stormlion1]

Post Offices would also be seen as a stability for a population and increase confidence in it. The registry would probably be like Modern Day Phone Book White Pages with names in alphabetacial order and old address/new address's listed and would be kept behind the counter by the postal workers to be looked at by them on request. Keep the riff raff from using it for more nefarious purposes while still allowing for familys and friends to find each other. This would require a dedicated effort that could also be used for things like starting a draft or as like stated earlier a cheap census. Probably a lot more reasons as well.

[Jason Weiser]

I like this and it could also be a secondary function of the "news riders" from my media article. Say there's just not enough MDU's as Rae mentioned to handle all but the most important or high priority mail, so lower priority stuff gets handed out to "independent contractors".

[schnickelfritz]

Aren't there larger, three axle bank armored cars for intercity transfers? I would imagine those would be ideal...if they exist. Parts should be shared with conventional cargo trucks (International/Navistar seem to be the most common around Chicago), and the fuel economy wouldn't be as bad as a HEMTT. They probably would be more common than the HEMMT, too.

I like this whole scenario a lot...T2K meets Steve Jackson's "Car Wars". Sweet!

-Dave

[stormlion1]

Actually I don't see the mail being delivered by a dedicated vehichle, more as a dedicated space available on supply trucks moving between areas. While important, the mail isn't as make it or break it as supplies. If needed to be moved then simple dueces are enough and they go in convoy with supply trucks.

[Tegyrius]

Yup. I was not seeing the HEMTT as a dedicated mail transport, nor as another fighting platform. Rather, I think a convoy like this - particularly one going along a route that might need engineering work to be passable - needs a heavier transport with some specialized tools to support that engineering work, and to haul the extra fuel needed for the trip.

- C.

[Raellus]

Larger, multirole convoys (including a couple of truckloads of mail) would probably be more commonplace than smaller, dedicated mail delivery groups, but for a campaign starter, I'm probably going to stick with the latter. For this to work, I only need a few vehicles and, although some civie models might actually do the job better, I'm probably going to stick with military vehicles, since part of this scenario is my excuse for making gun trucks the star mode of transport.

[stormlion1]

Actually what might be better is a kind of pony express, a small convoy delivers to a certain point where the mail is seperated per destination and then passes the mail to several outbound convoys. The original convoy then returns to its starting point for more supplies and mail. Unless its a important batch of mail, one unit wouldn't make the entire trip unless it was very important or close by.

[Sanjuro]

In relatively secure areas I would expect mail deliveries to be done using bicycles- even large items can be carried by one man if he is prepared to get off and push.
Some hostile territory could be within the postman's route, if he knew the area well and kept his eyes open. Equipment would be very basic- probably only a handgun or survival rifle for defence, a minimal repair kit, water and emergency rations. On longer routes it would be expected that the communities who received the mail would provide food and shelter.

[Raellus]

I'm taking in all of your suggestions, guys. One day, I hope to put together an article on the U.S. military's mail delivery efforts after the TDM incorporating some of your feedback.

For the purposes of my campaign, I'll probably set the story in the seminal phases of the mail delivery system. I'm thinking about using OMEGA as the starting point. Fearing massive desertions once the boats arrive home (in my T2KU, the ensuing discharge of returning personnel is much smaller), MILGOV attempts to get the mail up and running- or at least, expanding any already-established mail systems- so that returning G.I.s will have letters waiting for them and won't have to worry after loved ones. In my mind, this concern would be the leading cause of desertion for folks arriving back home after years spent overseas with no word from their families. Setting the story during the opening phases of this hurried mail delivery/collection program will give me an excuse for the system to be a little bit clunky and experimental and also to send the PCs into/through unsecured areas on their way to collect the mail.