128 Years of Family Serving Family: Tammar Tracey, General Manager, Fort Johnson

One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 128 years of family serving family.

Who she is: Tammar Tracey, General Manager, Fort Johnson

Years with the Exchange: 19 years

Military upbringing: Tracey’s father, retired Chief Master Sgt. James Payton, served in the Air Force for 27 years, which gave her the opportunity to live on several military installations throughout her childhood.

“I went to 14 different schools as a kid,” she said. “We’d hang out at the youth center and shop at the BX. My family’s whole life was on the installation, and it was a life I wouldn’t trade for anything.”

What brought her to the Exchange: Tracey joined the Army soon after graduating from high school. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, so I enlisted,” she said. Her time in the Army motivated her to earn a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and management from Regent University. Upon leaving the Army, she married Air Force, where her husband retired in 2003.

Tracey’s mother, Janet, worked at the Exchange for 47 years in a variety of roles, beginning her career serving military shoppers at the jewelry counter, moving to customer service and later the cash cage. Tracey’s mother encouraged her to apply for the Exchange’s college trainee program after college.

“I wanted a career versus just a job,” she said. “My mother suggested I get more information on the training program. I’d been around AAFES all my life, so it made sense.”

Where she’s worked: Tracey has held management roles throughout her Exchange career. Her first role was sales area manager at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, in 2005, where she later became an assistant store manager. In 2008, she PCS’d to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as an operations manager. She was later promoted to sales and merchandise manager. She also served as Express manager at Redstone Arsenal before PCS’ing to Fort Cavazos in 2013 as the Military Clothing store manager. She later became the main store manager at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in 2016 and JBSA-Fort Sam Houston in Texas in 2018 before earning her current role.

“I’ve come full circle with the Exchange as a dependent, active-duty service member, a former military spouse and now as a manager,” she said.

What she does now: Tracey oversees and manages Exchange operations at Fort Johnson. She meets with command leaders and assesses the Exchange’s service and support of the military community.

“I also conduct facility visits and speak with my managers and associates daily,” she said. “I have set meetings with certain managers to stay up on projects being worked and I track our customer comments regularly.”

Her Exchange network: Tracey credits her Exchange community, including her mother who retired as services business manager at Holloman AFB in 2018, for her career success.

“We talk a lot about building the bench, which is key, but it really helps when you have a mentor,” she said. “When I first started my career, my challenge was with the financial statements. My mother suggested that I contact a friend of hers who was also a retail manager for guidance. So, I emailed her friend with my questions and from that point on we talked every month about the business.”

She also encourages associates to develop and maintain relationships during their Exchange careers.

“When you have a mentor or coach who is willing to help you grow, that makes a difference and then you do the same thing as you move on,” Tracey said. “You can in turn help the next generation.”

Memorable moments: In 2010, while at Redstone Arsenal, Tracey witnessed her team come together for the community after a tornado left service members and their families without power and access to other shopping options.

“We were the only store open for miles after the tornado hit,” she said. The store had no electricity. Associates who were also without electricity at their homes still came in to help support the community. I limited the number of customers to 10 at a time, and each customer was assigned a personal shopper.”

The Exchange’s Waco Distribution Center provided five trailers of bagged iced for purchase and associates loaded the ice into their vehicles in a drive-up format. Associates wrote down the UPC codes and prices of the products selected by shoppers and handed the sheet to the manager at the register. Managers used calculators and a cash till to service customers throughout the day.

The store also received a trailer of generators. As customers approached to show their receipt for their purchased generators, the Garrison Commander and Soldiers helped customers load them from the back of the trailer into their cars.

“The team did a phenomenal job bringing everyone together to support after the tornado. That’s what the Exchange is all about,” she said. “It was amazing how we serviced the customers that day.”

Family serving family: Tracey believes the Exchange’s footprint is the pillar of the “family serving family” core value.

“Over the years, we’ve built a relationship of service with our customers. We understand the challenges of PCS moves, the constant changing of schools and the stress on families from deployments,” she said.  “Our service members remember when we deploy with them, when we set up MFEs (mobile field Exchanges) and when we give great customer service in our stores. This creates an emotional connection that is relational—like our own families. It’s all about keeping that relationship, and it keeps our customers coming back.”