Although Postmasters Susan and Andy Hall both have worked for Uncle Sam as Navy sailors and Postal Service employees, they know one thing for certain — they could never work for each other.
“One thing that we have realized through our time together is that we can’t work in the same office,” Andy said with a laugh while talking about his 12-year relationship with his wife. “I don’t think she could work for me, and I couldn’t work for her.”
Andy is the Callao, VA, Postmaster and Susan is Postmaster approximately 15 miles away in Warsaw, VA. The two met on the job and got married in 2006.
“The first time our paths crossed, we were both applying for the same Postmaster position in Montross,” Susan said. She pointed out that her favorite part of the story is where she got the job and Andy didn’t.
Besides careers with USPS, the couple shares the experience of having served their country in uniform — but never under the other’s command. For Susan and Andy, their time in the Navy was about broadening their horizons and being a part of something bigger than themselves.
Susan enlisted in the Navy Reserve in 1999 as a postal clerk and served for 10 years. Andy served on both active duty and in the Navy Reserve for 24 years as a jet engine mechanic and retired as a chief petty officer in 2010.
The Halls are among more than 100,000 veterans who are part of the USPS workforce. To mark Veterans Day this year, USPS is honoring employees like the Halls at ceremonies across the nation and providing them with special badges and lanyards.
With worldwide deployments and training exercises behind them, the Halls now spend their weekends volunteering with the American Legion and their local church and looking after their two cats and Jack Russell terrier.
And though they never served together, they both credit their time in the military with teaching them valuable lessons about teamwork and duty that help them be better Postmasters.
“Completing the mission is a daily task and we have to get it done,” Andy said, describing both his naval and postal service.