Postal School dedicates room to leader, supporter, innovator            Ashley HenryPublic Affairs Intern

Col. Edward Pardini was a passionate, dedicated and most of all, courageous man. His dedication was evident in that he served longer and in more places than anyone else in military postal history. He was passionate about getting mail from home to the troops overseas.  And, he was courageous when he fought his toughest battle, cancer. Pardini died Dec. 23, but his postal-school legacy was immortalized May 6, when the Interservice Postal Training Activity supervisor’s room, room 208, was dedicated in his honor.  Chief Warrant Officer 3 Travis Zinn, IPTA director, said that Pardini was a visionary who was constantly thinking outside the box to come up with ways to make the mail system better. “Mr. Pardini was one of our greatest leaders, supporters and innovators,” Zinn said. “It is only fitting that the supervisor classroom be dedicated in his honor for the future leaders of military postal to begin their postal careers.” In 1986, Pardini was the first Air Force deputy director of the Military Postal Service Agency. He served in this position again later in his career, as a DoD civilian until his retirement in 2005. Before serving as the deputy director of MPSA a second time, Pardini served in the Air Force for 30 years.  According to his biography, during Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, because of his leadership, a successful postal infrastructure was developed to deliver mail into hostile conditions in support of the thousands of troops deployed there.  Brig. Gen. Gina Farrisee, director military personnel management, office of the deputy chief of staff G-1, said in a statement read at the dedication ceremony that Pardini was committed to improving the postal arena and no matter how hard, accomplishing the mission. “Ed was all about the mission and getting things done,” Farrisee said. “He was high energy and never worried about himself, just the mission at hand and how to best accomplish it.”  To honor Pardini, outside the Pardini Room, a plaque and framed biography will be displayed that will depict his vast military postal involvement throughout his lifetime. “This is a great tribute for his passionate service to this country,” said his wife, Tess Pardini.