The Exchange at 125: Red-Letter July Dates in Exchange History
July 18, 1866 – Congress does away with the corrupt “sutler” system, effective July 1, 1867.
July 24, 1876 – The Secretary of War appoints one post trader at every military post, such as these folks at Fort Buford, N.D.
On July 24, 1876, the Secretary of War appointed one post trader at every military post, such as these folks at Fort Buford, N.D.
July 25, 1895 – War Department General Orders No. 46 directs post commanders to open a post exchange. Their mission was to “supply troops at reasonable prices with articles of ordinary use, wear and consumption . . . and afford them means of rational recreation and amusement.” The secondary mission was to use profits to improve the mess halls.
July 26, 1948 – The Army Exchange Service becomes the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
July 28, 1992 – AAFES expands its deferred payment plan throughout CONUS after a test run in Europe. The DPP would eventually become the Military Star credit card.
July 15, 1996 – AAFES debuts its first website, www.aafes.com, about the organization. Two years later, online shopping debuts.
Steve, in our summer RV travels (not this summer) we often run into AAFES employees, former employees, and relatives of employees. We ran into someone whose aunt, Lillie Mae Andrews, was the PX manager at Ft. Wainwright, AK during WWII. Her husband, Richard Maxwell Andrews, was in charge of DOD civilians. He wanted to know if there was public info about their time there.
Hi, Karen,
Is there something specific he’s looking for? We can look into it. You can drop us a note a exchangepost@aafes.com.
Hi Julie,
When I talked to Mr. Fluharty, the nephew of Lillie Mae Andrews, all he wanted to know was if you had any info on her. His email address is mike.fluharty@gmail.com. if you have something for him. I think he was just curious. Karen
Hi, Karen,
We can check and see.
Thanks!
You worked in AAFES-PL?