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AAFES - Army and Air Force Exchange Service

Newcomers to Europe are often surprised to discover that they have hardly left home as far as shopping is concerned. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) Europe supplies them with electronics, cameras, videos name brand sporting goods, new cars, car rental, alcoholic beverages clothing, household appliances, health and beauty aids, laundry service and film processing, to name but a few.

Its fast food outlets rival their stateside counterparts, and its movie theaters present the latest hits almost simultaneously with their stateside release. And that's only the beginning. Exciting plans now on the drawing board include: a big, Central European mall three times the size any existing AAFES-Europe facility, at Ramstein, and Barnes and Noble-style "mega" bookstores, as well as combining 24-hour shoppettes with gas and fast food facilities.

AAFES-Europe, with headquarters in Mainz-Kastel, Germany, is part of the worldwide AAFES exchange system. Its two-fold mission is 1) to provide quality merchandise and services at uniformly low prices, and 2) to give the earnings generated to Army and Air Force morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) programs.

In fiscal year 2001, AAFES-Europe gave $15.7 million to central agencies for child development and youth centers, gyms, recreation centers, leisure travel opportunities, and many other programs for troops and families. AAFES contributions worldwide for that same year were $243.9 million. While about 68 percent of the earnings AAFES generates goes to MWR programs, some earnings, approximately 32%, are used to renovate old facilities or build new structures. AAFES-Europe completed 96 construction and renovation projects in fiscal year 2001 that totaled $23.5 million.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS
In addition to supporting military communities, AAFES Europe provides support to troops on exercises and those deployed for contingency operations. Those endeavors include Operation Enduring Freedom as well as the SFOR and KFOR missions in the Balkans. (See box.)

LOW PRICES
AAFES helps the military family overseas maintain an acceptable standard of living. In addition to generating earnings for MWR, AAFES offers some substantial savings, especially on those items featured as Price Cut merchandise. For items in these categories AAFES has applied a portion of its earnings to offering this selected merchandise at below cost. This normally applies to household items and goods that are in constant demand.

In recent years, AAFES-Europe has had something new to contend with: off post competition from European discount retailers and U.S. transplants like Wal-Mart. This has led to the AAFES "Best Price" policy.

The intent of this policy is to keep AAFES-Europe competitive. Normally AAFES buys and prices its merchandise from its headquarters in Dallas for exchanges worldwide. But as overseas commercial retailers get better at the discount retail business, AAFES has given exchange managers the ability to lower shelf prices to ensure that each exchange is competitive.

AAFES-Europe has also increased the size of its European buying staff, enabling it to tap into the European market and buy selected items from local manufacturers to keep costs down. The European buyers concentrate on items that overseas customers need but don't want to pay a lot of money for, like 220-volt alarm clocks, coffee makers and toasters. The buyers also look for items that people will want as reminders of their time in Europe, such as Polish pottery, Italian ceramics, and Belgian tapestries.

CATALOG SALES
The Exchange Catalog is a great shopping alternative overseas, especially for those at the remote duty stations. It's available to all personnel and their family members in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Embassies and Consulates, and any other authorized customers as approved by the Department of Defense.

Two editions of the Exchange Catalog are published annually. They sell for $5 and contain a coupon good for $8 off the first order. In addition to the big books there are annual free supplements featuring seasonal clothing, home décor, holiday gift merchandise and military clothing. Catalog customers can make inquiries by using worldwide toll-free phone numbers or the AAFES website.

ON-LINE SHOPPING
AAFES now has expanded customer service to include internet shopping on its award-winning website: www.aafes.com. Authorized customers are identified through the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS). Simply log onto the site and begin shopping. The merchandise selection includes everything in the exchange catalog and also items that are available exclusively on-line. The web page also lists weekly specials and closeouts at extraordinary prices. And, as with the catalog, there's no charge for shipping and handling.

SERVICES
AAFES provides just about every service a person in Europe needs, from hair care and laundry services to auto repair, car washes, electronic repair, film processing and optical services. And in recent years it has made great strides with the film industry and provides blockbuster movies and videos nearly simultaneously with their release in the states.

GASOLINE
AAFES-Europe has a contract with Esso to provide coupons for authorized customers for use at Esso stations and BP autobahn stations in Germany. In the Netherlands, Esso has identified certain stations that participate in the coupon program. These locations can be found on the internet at www.aafes.com. The Esso coupons are sold at exchange facilities, based on an authorized ration. Gasoline is also offered at numerous AAFES-operated gas stations on military installations in Germany, The Netherlands, The Azores, Turkey, and the UK. Managers at AAFES gas stations give customers the convenience of using cash or credit cards for their purchases.

FOOD OPERATIONS
AAFES operates name-brand fast food franchises, such as Burger King, Popeye's, Taco Bell, Cinnabon and Subway, and it own in-house name brand such as Anthony's Pizza, American Eatery and Robin Hood, plus snack bars and concession food. AAFES manufactures its own bread and ice cream at a plant in Grünstadt, Germany (see box) and operates a USDA School Lunch Program.

The last named program provides more than 17,000 nutritious lunches daily at DoDDS schools throughout Europe. AAFES was appointed by the Army and Air Force as the school feeding authority overseas, and operates the program on a break-even basis. Coupons are sold at AAFES facilities, and are available free or at a reduced-price for qualifying families. School breakfast programs are offered at several locations.

AFN SATELLITE DECODER
If you live off base and want to get the full range of television and radio programming from AFN, visit your AAFES PowerZone to lease or purchase an AFN decoder and satellite dish. The decoder system receives the AFN signal via satellite. Don't forget to check with your landlord for permission to mount the satellite dish.

It Goes Where You Go
For military personnel in today's downsized force, life has been a series of back-to-back, short notice deployments to countries they would be hard pressed to point out and find on a map. Such deployments are just as common for AAFES-Europe, which is very proud of the support it provides to troops deployed in contingency operations throughout the European, Central Asian and Southwest Asian theaters.

Shortly after September 11th, AAFES responded to the call to support our armed forces engaged in the war against terror. AAFES-Europe set up its first Operation Enduring Freedom field exchange in October of 2001, less than two weeks after receiving its first request for support.

As Operation Enduring Freedom expanded, so too did the requirements placed on AAFES-Europe and those personnel AAFES is proud to serve. As units moved into various countries to conduct military operations, AAFES followed. Now AAFES has 17 field exchanges in operation within 10 countries stretched across Central and Southwest Asia, bringing troops there a touch of home and a much needed boost to their morale.

In Bosnia, AAFES was there serving troops on the banks of the swollen Sava River when the first vehicles rolled across the pontoon bridge to begin the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1996. By March, AAFES was operating more than 20 exchange facilities in Bosnia-Herzogovina, Croatia and Hungary for 20,000 troops. What first started as a bare-bones operation of semi-trailers and canvas shelters has evolved into a mature retail logistics system.

Things were similar in Kosovo. As soon as the troops began arriving commanders started asking for AAFES' services. On April 8, 1999, AAFES-Europe's regional headquarters received the request from USAREUR t establish operations in Albania.

Only 15 days later AAFES associates and merchandise arrived in Tirana, Albania. The first store, configured in a tent, was established on April 26 at the Air Force's Humanitarian Operation site. Soldiers and airmen lined up early for the much-anticipated merchandise. Just four days later a second store was established at Task Force Hawk. By May 9, AAFES was operating a tent store, two tactical field exchanges and a trailer store.

"AAFES remains committed to providing the deployed service member with outstanding exchange support. It is clear that AAFES associates serving as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, or those who are part of the SFOR and KFOR operations, are proud of what they are doing. "The 'we go where you go' mentality is what impresses me most about our organization," said AAFES-Europe Commander Col. William H. Taylor III.

 


Bagels and Baskin Robbins

BAGELS AND BASKIN-ROBBINS
The AAFES Depot at Grünstadt, Germany, produces a variety of food items, including bread, frozen dairy products and Culligan water. More than 300 people work at the 12-acre plant, and another 35 are assigned to remote locations in Germany, Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The heart of the Grünstadt operation is the bakery, the largest in Europe, which produces over a million loaves of bread annually for both AAFES and the commissaries. The highly automated and efficient bakery produces more than a hundred different varieties of baked goods and has a license to produce Nature's Recipe products, Country Hearth bread, Pillsbury bagels and Burger King hamburger buns.

In addition, the bakery also produces tortilla chips and air-popped popcorn, and does made-to-order cake decorating. A book located at most shoppettes provides the customer with ideas for cake designs, but customers can also use their own drawings or photographs for that extra special cake.

The depot also contains an ice cream plant, which produces Sealtest and Baskin-Robbins ice cream under license from those manufacturers.

And it has a Culligan Water Plant. Under license from Culligan, one of the best known and trusted water producers in the United States, AAFES produces a variety of bottled water sizes, from the half-liter personal size to the five-gallon jugs for home or office use, plus ice cubes. Culligan products are sold at most AAFES retail outlets and in many commissaries. Coolers and crock containers are available for sale or rent.