The ‘Custodian’

Written by Spc. Michael Vanpool
101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan – Spc. Salecha Sanders said she’s always wanted to be in a position of responsibility. As the Custodian of Postal Effects for the 90th Human Resources Company, 101st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, she got her chance.

“To me, it’s not a hard job,” she said. “I want to be an NCO (non-commissioned officer) and this job is it.”

Working in a position reserved for a staff sergeant, the Smithville, NC, native oversee the finances for the 90th HR Company, the sole company responsible for all postal operations in Regional Commands North, East and Capitol. That equates to nearly three quarters of all mail coming into country for the service members deployed to Afghanistan.

After the company deployed here this past January, Sanders was assigned to the post office at Camp Mike Spann in the Balkh province, one of eight satellite locations for the 90th. She was sorting mail when she received a call about a new position.

“I was pulled here because they believed I was high speed,” Sanders said. “Now, I’m accountable for millions of dollars in equipment and maintaining the stamp stock.”

She is also one of the few 90th soldiers to graduate the Postal Supervisor Course at Fort Jackson, SC, a course normally reserved for promotable sergeants. Her position came with a responsibility for the eight other COPEs scattered throughout outlying forward operating bases.

“If it has something to do with money, I oversee it,” Sanders said. “If the other COPEs mess up, it comes back on me, not on them.”

When the company needed a new COPE, Maj. Rich Strong, the commander of the 90th HR, knew that Sanders was the perfect candidate, and that she could work two pay grades above her rank.

“She turned the COPE position around,” Strong said. “She’s the most knowledgeable and most experienced person for that position. She’s been in two months, and we’re already getting accolades about how well this post office is running.”

The work of this one position stationed at Bagram Air Field is transferred to hundreds of service members in the outlying FOBs, most of which don’t have the luxury of a permanent post office.

“The difference I make to the soldiers is making sure we are available to them,” Sanders said. “We have rodeos that go out to smaller FOBs without post offices. I make sure they have the money they need so they can get to people that don’t have a post office.”

Sanders came to Afghanistan four months ago with the aspirations of entering the NCO Corps and leading her fellow soldiers.

“I want to make rank fast,” she said. “I believe I’m ready.” She intends to make a career in the enlisted ranks, and to become a first sergeant or sergeant major.

Once she pins her stripes, Sanders said she will aim her sights on becoming a drill sergeant.

“I want to go to Drill Sergeant School,” she said. “That’s a big goal of mine. When I went through basic training, my drill sergeants showed tough love, and that shaped me as a soldier.”

“Everyone’s experience in basic training determines their outlook on the rest of their military career. I’ll mirror the approach my drill sergeants took, but also add my own touch,” she said.