129 Years of Family Serving Family: Lorraine S. Brown, Holloman Air Force Base

One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 129 years of family serving family

Who she is: Lorraine S. Brown, Holloman Air Force Base Express Store Manager

Years With the Exchange: 21 years.

Military connections: Brown’s husband served for 27 years.

“I could not be more proud of him. He’s sacrificed time away from home and endured numerous deployments and assignments, all in service to our country.”

What she did at first: Stockroom associate at Fort Riley.

What brought her to the Exchange: “It was challenging to find stable employment due to my husband’s frequent relocations,” she said. “We moved every two years throughout almost his entire career.

“When my husband was assigned to Fort Riley, I applied to the Exchange and realized I could have a stable position and income even when we transferred to different locations.”

Desert life: Brown has been working in the Western Region, first at Nellis Air Force Base, then at Holloman since 2017.

“When we were first stationed in Arizona in 2000, I felt like it was just beautiful out there,” she said. “I had been wanting to get back out west, so I was happy to come back to Nellis in 2017.

“I love the desert feel and the hot weather, it was always a place I could see myself living. Nellis was a place my husband and I love so much, too—I just loved being able to go and do anything at any time of the day or night we wanted.”

Family serving family: Working at a smaller installation like Holloman means that Lorraine has her share of regulars that become like family.

“It’s really nice because you have a small-town feel on base here,” she said. “I get to see the same people all the time and have these relationships with them—they come in the door and I know what they want, I know what substitutes they like if we don’t have something.

“With just my husband with me here, it’s special to have the relationship with the shoppers and other families on base.”