0160 - Postal Officer
WO - CWO5
Postal Officers are Special Staff Officers who manage postal operations and postal services at installations, commands, and while deployed. They act as Installation Official Mail Managers, ensuring that the Official Mail Cost Control Program (OMCCP) works effectively.
0160's represent the commanding officer to the other services, tenant activities, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for all postal and official mail matters. On behalf of the Commanding General, they serve as Liaison to the Military Postal Service Agency and local U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Postmasters for all postal related issues, and conduct post office inspections and audits. Postal officers must possess good communication skills, orally and in writing, to effectively resolve customer issues and represent the Commanding General.
They must be trustworthy to manage postal retail operations and be proficient with Marine Corps, DoD, and USPS postal policies and regulations. Postal Officers generally oversee the affairs of mail delivery for an installation or forward base, as well as the distribution of mail to subordinate units.
There are roughly 18 Postal Officers in the entire Marine Corps, making it one of the least dense MOS's in the fleet. Marines selected to become 0160's are almost always previous 0161 Postal Clerks, and will receive their MOS upon graduation from the Postal Operations and Supervisor's Course, Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Routine duties include acting as Audit Custodian of Postal Effects (COPE), conducting inspections of Military Postal Offices (MPOs), coordinating domestic/international customs operations, conducting custom procedures, manage postal operations, planning deployment postal support, conducting physical security inspections of postal facilities, submitting postal offense reports, managing installation official mail programs, monitoring unit mailroom inspections and developing command mail handling orders
Marines who do not hold the MOS of 0161, but have performed duties such as SNCOIC/NCOIC of a Military Post Office, postal operations SNCO/NCO, postal Quality Assurance, Quality Control Inspector, Postal Finance Officer (PFO), or Custodian of Postal Effects (COPE) are desirable candidates for selection and promotion to 0160.
Applicants who also successfully completed any of the following assignments should be viewed favorably as these billets tend to provide the Postal Marine with efficient technical knowledge and experience in postal operations: MEU operations, contingency operations, and joint assignment at the Fleet Mail Centers.
Marines from other occupational fields can be selected to serve in the MOS 0160. Favorable consideration may be given to those applicants from the 01, 04, 30, 33, 34, 41, 43, 44, and 58 Occupational Fields. Marines from these MOS's who complete the Postal Supervisors Course have been very successful performing the duties of Postal Officers. These Marines tend to be experienced in customer service, conducting inspections and audits, logistics management and handling large volumes of currency.
Civilian position equivalents to an 0160 are a Postmaster and mailroom superintendent.
To learn more about Warrant Officer career paths, please visit our Officer Info section.
To learn more about other MOS's, please visit our Complete MOS List.
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