AAFES gives back to base community

  • Published
  • By Deborah Silliman Wolfe
  • Thunderbolt staff writer
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Most shoppers love a sale, and many will go out of their way to get a bargain on an item they have been looking for. But Luke Air Force Base servicemembers and their families don't have to travel miles to get a good deal. 

The Luke Army & Air Force Exchange Service gives customers an average 20 percent savings on more than 1 million items in the store. 

"Our goal is to be your number one choice for service," said Chief Master Sgt. Jeffry Helm, AAFES senior enlisted advisor, who spoke to Luke Airmen at a town hall meeting April 14. 

AAFES is a $10 billion company ranked 41 in the world for retail outlets. There are locations in 49 states and 50 countries around the world, including 80 stores in contingency locations in Iraq and Afghanistan. AAFES operates 1,380 fast food restaurants, 194 clothing sales, and 172 main exchanges with a total of 3,100 retail outlets worldwide. 

Chief Helm explained the history of AAFES, which started almost 114 year ago when the U.S. Cavalry was moving out west and Congress decided to establish an exchange service that would follow them to provide quality goods. 

"So that is what we do, we go where you go," Chief Helm said. "That is our motto." 

Chief Helm explained that not only does AAFES offer low prices, but if a customer finds a lower price elsewhere, AAFES will match that price. If the price difference is less than $10, the shopper can notify the cashier and the price will be matched on the spot. For price discrepancies greater than $10, shoppers need to bring in a current local competitor's ad to receive the reduced price. In either scenario, the competitor's item must be identical to the item in the AAFES store. 

Not only does AAFES offer low prices and price matching to Luke members, the service returns millions of dollars to military morale, welfare and recreation programs. 

"Out of every dollar that is left over after we pay all the salaries and the bills, 67 cents goes into the military MWR fund that goes directly back to the Soldiers and Airmen," Chief Helm said. "The other 33 cents goes into the capital improvement fund which helps build new facilities, like Luke's new shopette and the renovations of the exchange." 

Maj. William Manley, 56th Mission Support Group deputy commander and former commander of the now deactivated 56th Services Squadron, expressed his positive experiences with AAFES. 

"The local AAFES gave Luke services more than $500,000 last year, all of which came strictly from local sales," he said. "The dollars you spend here really do stay on base." 

According to Chief Helm, in fiscal 2008, AAFES returned $262 million back to Army and Air Force services fund. He explained that a certain amount goes to the individual bases and the rest goes to Air Force and Army services where it's held to help build youth centers, teen centers, auto hobby shops and other facilities along those lines. 

Customers can also shop for 18 million items at www.AAFES.com and the money spent there goes back to the local bases based on the zip code of where the customer lives. 

"We have hired five Web designers from big companies who are retooling the Web site to make it more user friendly," Chief Helm said. "We want to do it right so you will see a redesigned Web site at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010." 

Over the next few years, image updates are scheduled for Luke's Military Clothing Sales Store, Popeye's and Subway. A brand new shoppette with gas, a car care center and Burger King are scheduled for construction as well as a GameStop location which will be in the north side of the base exchange. 

At the end of Chief Helm's presentation, he handed out three $25 AAFES gift certificates and one $100 gift certificate. 

Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Addley, 309th Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, was the $100 winner and said that he learned a lot from the presentation. 

"I didn't know that you could go on AAFES.com and go to the different stores and get everything for a cheaper price online," he said. "I thought it was only AAFES stuff that you get at your local store. I didn't know that all that extra stuff was on there. It is actually kind of cool."