126 Years of Family Serving Family – Larry Falk, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 126 years of family serving family
Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, holds a lot of memories for Larry Falk, a courier at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base who has worked at the Exchange for 46 years.
When he met his future wife Evelyn, they both worked at the Exchange at Chanute. And that’s also where his father met his mother as they both worked at the Exchange there, too.
His father Warren, a pilot instructor who served in the Army Air Corps, graduated from the Army Exchange School in 1946. Back then they had co-managers (one civilian and one military officer) and he was one of the first military Exchange co-managers. He served as an active duty Exchange officer for one year, then was transferred into the newly created Air Force in 1947.
He retired from the Air Force in 1963 and joined the Exchange as a personal services operation manager. His first assignment was at Chanute Air Force Base, where he met his future wife Betty, who worked at the candy counter in the Exchange.
Larry was born in England when the family was assigned there. “I was raised military and I was raised Exchange,” Falk said. “I’ve known the Exchange all my life, since I was 8 years old.”
The family moved back to Chanute, where Falk’s older brother worked at the Exchange for about four years as a laborer and a sales associate, and then for one year in Okinawa when the family moved there. And that’s where Larry started his Exchange career.
“I was a stocker and sales associate at the first Toyland on Okinawa,” said Falk, who’s also worked as a Shoppette manager, troop store manager and sales area manager.
His most fulfilling assignment was his deployment to Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2002. “My GM said ‘You know, it’s going to be rough–it’s not like staying at the Holiday Inn,’” Falk said. “But I had no problem with it.”
He was told about the extra money that he’d make during the deployment, but for Falk it wasn’t about the money. “For me, you have to do it for something in your heart,” Falk said. “I went because I love the military and I love AAFES. There’s no amount of money they can pay you – you have to do it because it’s something you love.”
In 2009, he retired from the Exchange. It was a short retirement—three months later, he came back to work at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Exchange, and he’s been there ever since. It’s his favorite location that he’s worked at, so far.
“It’s a great central location and there are a lot of nice people here,” Falk said. “It’s the most fun I’ve had. It’s not stressful but it’s very helpful. My job title is courier, but I work for the general manager, doing whatever needs to get done at any of the stores in our region. I go there and do it or I help them do it. I’m also on our inventory team.”
When Falk and his wife travel, they stop at military installations whenever they can. “It just feels like home,” he says.
