Patrick SFB Express Reopens After Hurricane Milton; Other South Florida Exchanges Back to Normal Operations

The Patrick Space Force Base Express, which suffered roof damage during Hurricane Milton last week, was cleared to allow customers back inside Wednesday—but even during the days it couldn’t allow customers inside, it found a way to serve them.

“Store Manager Thomas Stephenson had people lined up outside,” said Patrick SFB General Manager Thea Sarver. “They’d tell him what they needed, then he’d get it and bring it out to them and they’d pay. He did that for a couple of days. They can also buy fuel using pay at the pump.”

With the reopening of the Express, Exchanges in southern Florida are back to normal operations after taking a beating from Hurricane Milton. Sarver, whose official title is MacDill AFB/Patrick SFB Exchange General Manager, is actually responsible for six Exchanges: MacDill, in Tampa on the Gulf Coast; Shades of Green, in a military-exclusive hotel at Walt Disney World near Orlando; Cape Canaveral and Patrick on the Atlantic Coast; and Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and Homestead AFB farther south on the Florida peninsula.

“This storm kind of touched every one of them,” Sarver said. “Usually storms hit one coast or the other or hit further south.”

Space Force Base Express after Hurricane Milton. Before the store, which suffered roof damage during the storm, was cleared to reopen, Store Manager Thomas Stephenson would greet customers in line, then go inside to fulfill their requests.

She spent a lot of time on the road last week, meeting with commands and helping survey damage to Exchange facilities when she was allowed to. She is based at MacDill, which was not only hit by Milton but affected by Hurricane Helene the previous week.

On Tuesday, MacDill reopened to all ID card-holders after being mission-essential during the long weekend. The Exchange fuel operation managed to deliver 8,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline to MacDill on Friday afternoon—when more than 75% of the gas stations in Tampa-St. Petersburg, an area with a population of more than 3 million, were without fuel.

“Command was very, very appreciative,” Sarver said. “At some off-installation stations, police had to direct traffic and escort fuel trucks. When a civilian gas station got fuel, everybody needed it, so people were waiting in line for three, four, five hours. Command was so happy that we were able to get fuel on the base on Friday.”

Sarver has been GM at the south Florida exchanges for less than a year—she PCS’d from Fort Drum last November. At Fort Drum, near the Canadian border in Upstate New York, she had to deal with massive snowfall; before that, she was at Fort Buchanan in Puerto Rico, where the Exchange endured tropical storms and heavy rainfall during her tenure.

“This was more stressful than the snow at Fort Drum,” she said. “In New York, we were down one day, usually, when it snowed, and we were back at it the next day. At McDill, we were down six days after Hurricane Helene and with Milton we were down three.”

Ceiling damage at the Patrick Space Force Base Express after Hurricane Milton. A waterspout spawned by the storm damaged the roof of the Express, leading to water damage throughout the store.

South East Area Vice President Tony Pares also had a busy two weeks, as his area of responsibility includes Florida and Georgia, where almost every store was affected by Hurricane Helene, Milton or both.

Pares expressed his appreciation for the support provided by the fuel, logistics, Real Estate (Facility Management Office),and PAR (Planning, Allocation and Replenishment) teams, which involved associates at headquarters and the Waco and Dan Daniel distribution centers—all hundreds of miles from Georgia and Florida but pitching in to help.

“Times like these really show what a true family we have at the Exchange,” Pares said. “Everybody is there for one another. ‘Family serving family’ is even more evident in times of crisis. It makes me proud to be part of the Exchange family and that I have brothers and sisters out there who will stop what they’re doing to help.”

Although damage at the stores was limited, some associates suffered power outages and damage at their homes. The AAFES Retired Employees Association (AREA) has activated an Emergency Relief Fund to help Exchange associates affected by Milton and Helene.

If you would like to contribute, you can make a monetary donation to the AREA Relief Fund by:

1. Credit card through the AREA website at Hurricane ERF Donation. Please note that all credit card payments incur an administrative fee of 2.9% + $.30. If you would like to cover this fee, please increase your donation amount. This will ensure the full amount you donate goes to those in need.

1. Check or money order payable to AREA Scholarship Fund-ERF. Cash donations need to be turned into a money order. Mail to the address below along with the name, address and email of the contributor so AREA can send a tax-deductible receipt. Please also specify which relief fund for your contribution, hurricane Helene or Milton.

National AREA – Hurricane Relief

2303 RR 620 S Suite 160-105

Austin, TX 78734

Any questions about the relief funds should be directed to the AREA Emergency Relief Coordinator vp@aafesretired.org.