Continuing the Spirit of Selfless Service
Director/CEO Tom Shull meets with third-country nationals who work in some contingency locations.
From Director/CEO Tom Shull
Fifteen years ago, the world witnessed unprecedented destruction in New York City and Washington, D.C. In the ensuing months and years, Exchange associates have served with Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines, exemplifying our motto—We Go Where You Go.
On that September morning, then-Washington Office Director Bob Ellis was waiting for a meeting when he heard a loud explosion. American Airlines Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon. As the world panicked, Bob did what Exchange associates do—he focused on our troops. Working with then-Andrews AFB Store Manager Beth Goodman-Bluhm, Bob mobilized a mobile field Exchange (MFE) filled with water, snacks and health-care necessities to serve as a makeshift exchange in the Pentagon parking lot for first responders and service members. Steve Williams and the Fort Hamilton Exchange team did the same in New York City.
9/11 is but one example of the dedication Exchange associates bring to their work. It’s our workforce, combined with the unique expeditionary capabilities that only the Exchange can provide as a part of the Defense Department, that sets us apart from other retailers.
In the aftermath of 2012’s Super-storm Sandy, National Guard commanders requested the Exchange deploy to Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, New Jersey’s Fort Dix and New York’s Camp Smith. Then-Fort Hamilton General Manager Michele Weisshaar and her team worked side by side with the National Guard and Homeland Security, slept in tents and ensured the Exchange remained open 24 hours a day to provide support and much-needed gasoline to emergency vehicles, including the New York Fire Department.
It is an honor to serve alongside you as we make the lives of service members and their families better.
Sandy was not the Exchange’s first catastrophic storm recovery deployment nor will it be its last. Exchange MFEs deployed following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005 and after the devastating Haitian earthquake in 2010. As we approach hurricane season, our contingency team and the Dan Daniel Distribution Center are making sure our MFEs are ready to move at a moment’s notice.
When troops go downrange for exercises, the Exchange has been there for them. The Exchange has deployed MFEs to exercises in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. Just this year, the Exchange Europe team supported 30,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Poland during Anakonda 16, NATO’s largest exercise since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In 2016, the Exchange continues to serve troops on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 9/11, nearly 4,500 of our teammates have voluntarily deployed to harsh, austere and war-torn locations. Today, Exchange volunteers operate 11 facilities in Afghanistan, six in Iraq and 13 in Kuwait. One such TFE at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, operates 23 hours a day, seven days a week, bringing a taste of home to those far from the comforts of family and friends.
The spirit of selfless service so many associates have courageously displayed throughout the Exchange’s 121-year history is alive and well today. It is because of you and all you do for our military that we say the Exchange is Family Serving Family.
It is an honor to serve alongside you as we make the lives of service members and their families better.
