After more than 30 years of dutifully ascending the ladder inthe United States Postal Service, one of Brookhaven’sbehind-the-scenes men is being rewarded with an appointment to thecity’s top postal position.

As far as the two locations of the Brookhaven Post Office areconcerned, the buck stops with newly appointed postmaster KeithRushing. But for this old pro, the new job title carries with itvirtually no new challenges.

Rushing has seen it all.

When he joined the USPS in 1978, his first job was to standbefore a letter-sorting machine punching in ZIP codes as lettersrolled by at the rate of one per second. Three decades and severalpost offices later, Rushing is now in charge of 37 employees andall the mail that comes through ZIP code 39601 – 5,617 cityaddresses and 5,535 county addresses on 17 total routes, as well as2,322 post office boxes.

But that’s no big deal.

“The only difference is that I’m now over both offices,” saidRushing. “Now that I’ve got the job, I guess you can say I justhave more authority.”

Rushing has the authority, his use of it is quite judicious. Andif it weren’t for the nametag, customers at the post office mightthink he’s just one of the guys.

“I’ve always been a people person, and I can communicate withalmost anybody,” Rushing said of his laid back approach tomanagement. “The main thing is customer satisfaction and keepingyour employees happy – gaining the respect of the customers;keeping the respect of employees.”

Through 30 years of constant change in the mail delivery system,how has Rushing managed to perpetuate a friendly atmosphere in thepost office?

“I just never lose my temper,” he said. “I talk with myemployees the way I would want to be talked to. If somethingdoesn’t go right, I bring them in and we have a conversation andfix things diplomatically. I’ve never blown up on anybody.”

Rushing said he is stern when he has to be. For repeatinfractions, he is not above issuing a letter of warning – notexactly a suspension without pay, but it gets the job done. Butproblems hardly ever get to the warning stage, he said. He talks itout.

“Brookhaven has a very good work atmosphere,” Rushing said.”Everybody gets along. The difference between Brookhaven and aJackson or a Gulfport with several offices is that everyone inBrookhaven knows each other and has for a while.”

Rushing has put in his time in the Jacksons and Gulfports ofMississippi. Since joining the post office in 1978, Rushing hasserved in various positions in Jackson, Harrisville, Monticello,Magee and then back to Jackson before finally being able to stayput in Brookhaven. In these different cities, he has served as anLSM operator, window clerk, retail supervisor, manager and nowpostmaster.

And even as postmaster, all the other jobs still apply. Rushingis still apt to get behind the wheel of a delivery jeep and makethe rounds if a carrier is absent.

“To move up in the post office, you have to be willing tovolunteer up for other jobs,” he said. “It’s what I’ve done mywhole career – to improve and get more knowledge of what you’redoing. But I always come back to Brookhaven. It’s where I reallywanted to be to start with.”

Rushing’s three-decade climb up the pyramid came basically on ahandshake deal.

Rushing joined the United States Air Force in 1976, serving atDavis-Monthan Air Force Base outside of Tucson, Ariz. As a memberof the security police force, one of his duties was guarding thesprawling airplane graveyard, where retired military aircraft arehoused for storage, scrap and spare parts.

He joined the service with a friend from Copiah-LincolnCommunity College – both intended to join the Mississippi HighwayPatrol after discharge.

“He did – I went a different route,” Rushing said.

Rushing began working with the Veterans’ Administration upon hisdischarge. He worked for the administration for two years beforejumping to the post office for, basically, $500 a month.

“Back then I was making $7,000 a year, and the post office wasabout $13,000,” Rushing said. “So I took the test and gothired.”

Rushing said the 1978-era post office entrance examinationrequired lots of memorization – not so much a virtue in the modernpost office. The USPS has changed “dramatically” over the years, hesaid.

Rushing said the use of first class mail is declining rapidly aspeople pay bills online and communicate through e-mail rather thanwritten letters. The popularity of direct deposit has also meantthat far less checks are being mailed.

But the post office adapts to the changes, Rushing said.

The federal service has gone on the offensive in dealing withindependent carriers like FedEx and UPS, competing in terms ofdelivery time and price. Rushing said the USPS was the onlydeliverer of the three that delivers six days a week, and the postoffice will even deliver express mail on Sundays.

Rushing said the post office also runs price comparisons betweenitself and the major delivery companies and shares that informationwith the customer – even if the post office is beaten in thecontest.

“We don’t lose very often,” Rushing said.

The post office can even clear citizens for internationaltravel. Rushing pointed out that the post office began issuingpassports in July.

Appointments must be made and plenty of paperwork filled out,but the post office takes the identification photos onsite andsends the forms off for processing. Traveling Brookhavenites havenothing to do but visit the post office once for 30 minutes andagain to pick up the passport.

After years of constantly changing services and procedures andconstantly soaking in new knowledge, now that Rushing has arrivedat the top of Brookhaven’s postal chain, what are his plans foraffecting change?

Not much.

“There’s really not much else for me to do,” Rushing said. “Allthe employees there want to do a good job – that’s what’s so easyabout being a postmaster in Brookhaven. Everyone comes to work in agood mood and wants to do their job.”

Rushing said he plans to remain the Brookhaven postmaster for atleast five years, and then the show is over.

“The next thing I’ll do is retire,” he said. “I’ve been in thefederal government 35 years. I love what I do, and I’ve been doingit a long time. The post office has been good to me.”