Special Team of Associates Serve Deep Inside a Mountain
Exchange associates work and live all over the world from Thule, Greenland, to the tip of the spear at contigency locations in Poland, but only one special team of associates takes a bus deep inside a mountain and cross two 25-ton blast doors to begin their day at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station.
The Air Force Station in Colorado Springs, Colo. originally was home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD moved operations to its headquarters at Peterson AFB in 2006. The location now supports U.S. Strategic Command’s Missile Warning Center, and provides an alternative operating location for NORAD’s command center.
Three specially authorized associates, two who man the Subway cart and a vending tech, work at the facilities Granite Inn Subway Cart and self-checkout mircro-market, serving more than 500 military, civilian and contractors at the installation.
The bunker was built to deflect a 30 megaton nuclear explosion. The two 25-ton blast doors were designed to withstand a nuclear blast wave. There is also a network of blast valves with unique filters to capture air-borne chemical, biological and nuclear contaminants.
Another interesting fact about the facility—it features the only cashier-less, micro-market kiosk at the Exchange. The kiosk is fully integrated with the Exchange warehouse and inventory through a proprietary system, OneMarket. This channel of information keeps the market stocked with customers’ favorite products using sales to track top selections and make adjustments to the product mix. Customers can scan the item and pay with a credit card to make purchases.
