126 Years of Family Serving Family – Brian Greene, Luke Air Force Base

One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 126 years of family serving family

Brian Greene, stockroom manager at Luke Air Force Base, is a military brat who celebrated his 40th year with the Exchange this year—and he spent it all at the same place after traveling around the world when his father, Donald, was in the Air Force.

Brian Greene with Luke AFB Exchange General Manager Sarah Park at his 40th anniversary celebration this year. Greene has spent his entire Exchange career at Luke.

“I was born in Maine, at Kittery Naval Station,” Greene said. “I have been around military bases my entire life—Florida, Colorado and Arizona are a few more. I have three siblings and we were all born in different states. I went to high school on ‘The Rock’ – Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan from 1977-80. Go Kubasaki Dragons!”

After his father retired as a master sergeant at Luke AFB, Greene’s little brother, Barry, joined the Army (and retired after 20 years), and Greene joined the Exchange. Their mother, a cosmetics vendor for Elizabeth Arden, helped Greene get his first job as a gas station attendant.

He worked the lanes, collecting money (cash and check only) at the pumps. “I had to clear each dispenser with a wrench before the customer could pump their gas and we checked the gasoline inventory every morning with a stick and thermometer,” said Greene.

He’s also worked as a service station foreman, service station manager and Express shift manager.

But his favorite job was at the service station. “It was a small place and my whole team was seven employees,” Greene said. “Everybody knew each other and we knew each other’s kids, who would then go into the military. We were a tight-knit group; we did barbecues and birthday parties (we were closed on Sundays back then). I coached the AAFES women’s softball team and I played on a few Air Force Squadron teams. I met some really good people and I knew customers by name.”

Greene’s seen a few changes during his 40 years there (so far).“I saw my beloved Car Care Center bulldozed and turned into a gravel lot, and I was on staff for the grand opening of the Luke Express complex with a Burger King and a Firestone,” he recalls.

The Exchange was a great fit for Greene. “Being around the military growing up, I was comfortable with them,” he said. “I liked the structure, the values. When you go outside the base it’s a different cultural experience.”

Greene even got married on Luke AFB, at the Little White Chapel in March 1992. “It was a small ceremony with 100,000 of my closest friends and the USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration Team—the Luke Days Air Show was that weekend!” he joked.

“I have worked for the Luke AFB Exchange my entire adult life,” Greene said. “I believe our customers and employees are a cut above our competitors. It is amazing to see military members who served together 15, 20, or 30 years ago run into each other in our stores. I met a retiree who asked me about my last name, and I found out that he was my father’s roommate in Vietnam in the ’70s!”

His family’s military service and the people in the military he’s met inspire him to do his best every day for Exchange customers.

“They are asked to go to places that most wouldn’t,” Greene said. “They are away from their families for extended periods of time. I am proud to work for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, knowing it’s ‘Family Serving Family’ every day around the world, and especially at Luke AFB. Even better is the fact that ‘We Go Where You Go” to bring a little bit of home to the greatest Warfighters in the world!”