125 Years of Family Serving Family – Lani Chandler, SBM, KMC, Germany
Service Business Manager Lani Chandler (second from left), has two decades worth of experience with the Exchange family and loves putting on events for military families.
One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 125 years of family serving family
For Lani Chandler, a service business manager with the Kaiserslautern Military Community Exchange, joining the Exchange family was a way to be close to the military community.
“It all started because I was too scared to join the military,” Chandler said. “By joining the Exchange, it was my way of still being able to serve our military.”
Chandler said she is very familiar with the military community because she grew up as a “military brat.” Her dad retired from the Army after 24 years of service. Chandler believes the Exchange is a family that understands how that community works and lives.
“Military families are different from regular families because they have to deal with deployments, permanent change of stations, temporary duty stations, and constant change of daily schedules due to something going on,” Chandler said. “So, everybody working in the Exchange has the same goal, and that is to serve the military and their families.”
Chandler said she has taken her past experiences from all that change and used it as motivation for the next generation of military families to ease the burden of what they are going through.
“We are a community with many different shared moments and experiences,” Chandler said.
Chandler’s experience with the military goes beyond her childhood. Chandler’s husband of 30 years is retired from the Air Force; her brother is a retired Marine; each of her three nephews have served in a different military branch: Army, Marines and Air Force; an ex-son-in-law is a Navy veteran; while another ex-son-in-law is still active in the Air Force.
“I understand what our military and their families are looking for because I am also a military wife and mother,” Chandler said. “I’m also proud of my two daughters who have chosen to serve our military through the Exchange.”
Chandler has enjoyed two decades as an Exchange employee and said one of the biggest highlights of her job is when she can put on an event for military children. From teddy bear and tea party events for mothers, to making ice cream and plaques workshops for the fathers- she enjoys it all.
“Providing a platform for mothers and fathers to connect with their children is a great feeling,” Chandler said. “It’s not always about putting money to the bottom line. It’s about the connection and memory they will now have forever.”
Facebook-friendly version: With two decades as an #Exchange employee, Lani Chandler, a service business manager with the #KMC Exchange in Germany, loves putting on events for military families. “Providing a platform for mothers and fathers to connect with their children is a great feeling,” she said. “It’s not always about putting money to the bottom line. It’s about the connection and memory they will now have forever.” Read more: https://wp.me/p7iUVQ-4g2.
