Fort Irwin Breaks Ground on $15 Million, 24-Hour Express

Using shovels that spelled out FORT IRWIN, the Exchange and Fort Irwin command team broke ground Nov. 18 on a $15.6 million, 24-hour Express. It was a big step in more than $22 million in facility upgrades focusing on Quality-of-Life improvements at the remote California installation, including renovations to the main store and mall and to the main Starbucks. The new Express is expected to open in early 2023.

Breaking ground on the Fort Irwin Express, from left: Camille Gonzales (new Fort Irwin Express Manager), Ladda Thomas (Fort Irwin Exchange general manager), Col. Kip Korth (Exchange command engineer), West Coast regional Vice President Robert Rice, Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor, (Fort Irwin post commander), Col. Jason Clarke (Fort Irwin Garrison commander), Steven Ryan (deputy to the Garrison commander), Derrick Pace (Fort Irwin director of Public Works), and Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Fedorisin.

“This is a one-of-a-kind facility that is going to set the standard for future Express stores,” Robert Rice, West Coast regional vice president, said before the groundbreaking ceremony, which was posted on the Fort Irwin Exchange’s Facebook page. “It’s going to be nearly 13,000 square feet of retail space. It’s going to have a quick-serve restaurant, a Class Six, expanded Snack Avenue, convenience goods and 28 gas pumps.”

Rice added that the Express will have a food-truck plaza with outdoor seating.

“To make it even more of an experience for our patrons here at Fort Irwin,” he said, “the outdoor seating is also going to have misters to keep you nice and cool while you enjoy that food-truck meal.” Fort Irwin is in the Mojave Desert, where keeping cool is important throughout much of the year.

General Manager Ladda Thomas said that the new Express will add an extra level of convenience at the installation, which is roughly a half-hour north of Interstate 40, the closest major highway. The new store’s 28 gas pumps are a key improvement.

“Because of the volume of people at Fort Irwin, there are usually lines at the current gas station” Thomas said. “So it will be exciting to get the new pumps in.”

The Exchange is supporting the Army’s initiative to improve quality of life for Soldiers and their families at the “Big Four” installations: Forts Polk, Wainwright, Hood and Irwin.

Senior Vice President of Real Estate Mike Smietana said the Exchange is funding the $15 million for the Express, with an additional $600,000 coming from a companion project funded with appropriated funds.

100% of Exchange earnings support military communities. Roughly 60% of earnings support quality-of-life programs on military installations worldwide. In the last 10 years, the Exchange has contributed $2.1 billion to Child, Youth and School Services; Armed Forces Recreation Centers; and other programs to support troops and their families. All remaining earnings are reinvested in enhancing the customer shopping experience.

During 2021 at Fort Irwin, the Exchange has partnered with the installation to upgrade its Reel Time Theater, including the snack bar; and opened Soleil Nails and Spa, replacing a spa that closed three years earlier.

Other upcoming projects at Fort Irwin include a $5 million facelift of the main store and mall, and a nearly $1.5 million upgrade of the main Starbucks.

“The Starbucks was previously an old Burger King that’s been converted,” Smietana said. “We’re going to add a drive-thru. The Starbucks is pretty big, it has a big seating area, so it’s a fairly large project investment.”

Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor, commanding general of Fort Irwin and the National Training Center, also spoke at the groundbreaking. Taylor said his first paying job was at a Fort Irwin Shoppette in 1986.

Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor, commanding general of Fort Irwin and the National Training Center, also spoke at the groundbreaking.

“It represents a significant investment by AAFES into our Soldiers and the quality of life here in this community,” Taylor said in his remarks. “I can’t say enough about how impressed we are with this organization.”

Taylor added that the Express will provide service “around the clock to make sure that our Soldiers and families who are out here in the middle of the Mojave Desert on freedom’s frontier, preparing for the next war, always have access to the same kind of facilities that they would have in a larger town in a much more convenient location.”

He also shared some personal history.

“This is a special day for me, personally, and for my family,” Taylor said. “I was here as a young teenager in 1986 and the first paying job that I ever had, aside from mowing a lawn here or there, was to work at the 24-hour Shoppette. … I learned the value of hard work and the value of discipline, and I learned to be part of a great organization.”

But there was more: “It’s also a special moment for me today because 34 years ago, my father had the opportunity to break ground right across the street from where we stand today on a new PX,” Taylor said. “When he was serving here as commanding general, he had the opportunity to open up the new PX and this is a continuation of that. It means a lot to me and my family that I can be a part of this.”