The time it takes to round-trip postcards to Pole really depends on when you send it. If you send a postcard after mid January or so, it likely won't arrive on

The time it takes to round-trip postcards to Pole really depends on when you send it. If you send a postcard after mid January or so, it likely won't arrive on station until after winter, in October/November. The station opening flights tend to be light aircraft e.g. the BT-67 Baslers from various other places and they sometimes carry a mail bag. Otherwise you're waiting for an LC-130. If you send something in July/August, there's a reasonable chance that it will get to Pole in only a few months. There's some randomness in the black box that is McMurdo's sorting office, as well as the CDC in Christchurch. That said, I got a postcard just before Winter that was mailed in January. 9 months later, I got another postcard that was mailed in December of the previous year. You just can't predict this stuff. Oh and then it has to go back... so you've got to wait for an outbound cargo flight, then a connecting flight from McMurdo and then for it to get out via the APO at the CDC and so on. In theory if you get your ducks in a row it could be in the US within a week. If you're sending elsewhere (from experience) it can easily take months. Running the post office is a secondary role for someone on station, but it does require specific training in order to comply with USPS regulations (e.g. only the post person can open the mail bag). Most people can run the store, for example, but only trained people can handle mail. There are instructions at Pole on how to handle these sorts of requests e.g. if someone sends a postcard and asks for it to be sent back. We also had a special box for mail from kids, who sometimes ask for us to write to them. It's not uncommon for people to mail specific departments, like one of the telescopes. Generally as long as you send something prepaid, we'll send it back - it's zero effort to drop it in the mail slot and it'll get cancelled as usual. Special requests are less likely to be granted, mostly because we suffer from winter brain and we forget.