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Top 10 Things Everyone Should Know about AAFES

10.
    Name Brand Fast Foods The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) does it's level best to bring quality stateside fast food concessions to deployed service members, regardless of where they are stationed. Installation commanders determine the number and type of name brand fast food concessions at their location. Commanders must provide space and support (utilities) for each concession as well as give final approval to AAFES' choices. All name brand fast food concessions must meet the same health inspections as in the continental United States (CONUS) while meeting individual franchise requirements. In CONUS, AAFES owns the franchises at installations, whereas outside the CONUS (OCONUS), sometimes AAFES has to contract with an existing local franchise to provide the name brand name fast foods. This is the case in Kuwait. Although the basic food concepts are the same here as in CONUS, there are regional menu differences. As new camps and bases are approved and built in Kuwait and the OIF theater, AAFES works with local commanders to bring in the types of food that soldiers have come to expect.
9.
    AAFES is a military command AAFES is a unique entity within the armed services. It's a military command but has a board of directors. It's a military organization, yet civilian employees outnumber their military counterparts by more than 700-to-1. Maj. Gen. Kathryn Frost, the AAFES commander, works hand-in-hand with a civilian chief operating officer who runs the retail side of AAFES. A senior enlisted advisor vi> sits service members around the world to ensure that AAFES continues to meet their needs and to educate everyone on AAFES policies and services. Military members are assigned throughout AAFES' regions around the world. As a military command, the AAFES mission - mandated by the Department of Defense - is to provide quality merchandise and services to soldiers, airmen and their families around the world and to generate earnings to support the morale, welfare, and recreation programs of the Army and the Air Force. When service members deploy, AAFES military and civilian staff deploy with them to provide many of the same services they receive in the states.
8.
    AAFES Centric Mall Centric Mall, AAFES' online concession mall, offers services and merchandise to military members around the world. Similar to the concession malls outside local exchanges, the Centric Mall's online shopping experience allows authorized customers the variety and quality they are used to from AAFES no matter where they are stationed or deployed. Currently, more than 35 virtual stores cater to every need or want, from movies, games, clothes and foods to automotive and building supplies and electronic and sports gear. Most stores offer specials to military customers. In addition, these concessions accept the Military Star Card. All the websites are secure and none collect customer information for their private use. Finally, professional customer assistance representatives make shopping experiences enjoyable. If you can't find it in your local store, just click on www.centricmall.com and shop to your hearts delight. Additionally, unlike some other retail sites, all organizations affiliated with the AAFES Centric Mall ship to APOs.
7.
    Exchange New Car Sales The Exchange New Car Sales helps military families stationed overseas and servicemembers TDY or deployed for at least 30 days (90 for motorcycles) purchase American-built cars, trucks or motorcycles that meet their needs and specifications at a reasonable price. Authorized by Congress more than 40 years ago, the ENCS program was created by the military for the military and offers several exclusive guarantees like a 100% refund if customers cancel orders due to a PCS, factory hold on vehicles if the customer's PCS is delayed and it authorizes spouses or family members to take delivery in the absence of the military member. ENCS provides military communities with protections, guarantees and benefits not available through other sources as well as standard warranties and protection plans. For more information, contact your local ENCS representatives or click on www.encs.com.
6.
    Big Ticket items Customers stationed in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico or deployed overseas can buy big-ticket items through the AAFES Exchange Catalog that aren't available to CONUS customers. Customers deployed here can aren> place orders for diamonds, big screen TVs, certain furniture and figurines and a host of other items up to 45 days prior to departure and/or 45 days after return to the US. Look in the Exchange Catalog or talk to a customer service representative at your local exchange for more information.
5.
    AAFES exchange catalog The Exchange Catalog and seasonal supplements are published and updated yearly. These are extensions of local exchanges and earnings are used to provide various recreational activities at military installations throughout the world. Customers can place orders via the Internet at www.aafes.com, www.usmc-mccs.org ; www.navy-nex.com or www.cg-exchange.com. Phone numbers to call or fax in an order are provided. See the exchange catalog for more information. Customers can also talk to their customer service representative and place orders in the store. Shipping fees may vary.
4.
    Military STAR Card Although the Military STAR Card offers many of the same features as other credit cards it's not the same. Developed by AAFES, the Marine Corps Exchange, and the Navy Exchange Service Command for military shoppers, the card evolves to meet the needs of its clientele. Card features include: no annual fee or late fees; lower standard interest rates than all major retailers and most bank cards, 10% off your entire first day's purchases, minimum 25-day grace period on new purchases; no interest if total balance is paid in full at end of each billing period and can be used worldwide in Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard exchanges, OCONUS Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facilities and on-line. In addition, it supports overall operation of military exchange services. The Military STAR Card also offers friendly features for deployment with a six percent annual percentage rate and no payments for the duration of the deployment. Deployments must be more than 90 days. For more information, log on to www.milexch.com.
3.
    AAFES dividends support MWR In 2003, AAFES contributed more than $230 million to MWR programs. Supporting the quality of life programs sponsored by MWR gives AAFES the chance to give back to the military community. Approximately 70 percent of AAFES earnings are paid as dividends to the military services' morale, welfare and recreational programs. AAFES is proud to serve you and the military community by contributing to the morale, welfare and recreation programs that make your life more enjoyable.
2.
    AAFES volunteers in OIF/OEF AAFES has about 450 associates currently deployed who live and work right beside American war fighters. They all volunteered to leave their friends and family and accepted the risks involved with working in hostile, austere locations. Everyday, they strive to improve the lives of our soldiers and airmen in all kinds of environments. These civilians, just like the military, make the same sacrifices of family, safety and security but unlike soldiers, civilian associates were given a choice. Every single AAFES associate here chose to leave his or her family and come to this theater. It's a point many want soldiers to understand and respect. Unlike previous deployments, where AAFES associates were in protected camps and rarely if ever saw hostilities, associates deployed in support OIF/OEF were and are still at the front of the battlefield. They experience the mortars, rockets and gunfire daily. Their deployments range from six months to a year and some associates volunteer for additional years.
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    AAFES goes where you go Before there were toilets, mail or hot meals, AAFES had exchanges set up throughout Iraq to meet the needs of servicemembers. For 109 years, wherever the Army and Air Force have gone, AAFES hasn't been far behind. In many cases, associates face the same living conditions and threats as servicemembers. As the theater matures, AAFES also matures. Today, AAFES brings that touch of home to troops with 10 stores in Kuwait and 31 in Iraq, with about 450 associates deployed at any given time. AAFES supports 54 unit-run Imprest Funds that serve forward operating bases where it is too remote or dangerous to set up a store. Additionally, AAFES runs more than 35 call centers throughout Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom where deployed troops can go to make a call home to their loved ones. Internet Cafes at camps ensure service members can maintain their cyber-link to their loved ones at home and across the world. Food from Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subway, Pizza Inn and local concessionaires provide service members another small taste of home. Other countries AAFES supports include: Iraq, UAE, Kosovo, Cyprus, Belgium, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Krygyzstan.

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is a joint command of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and is directed by a Board of Directors who is responsible to the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force through the Service Chiefs of Staff. AAFES has the dual mission of providing authorized patron> s with articles of merchandise and services and of generating non-appropriated fund earnings as a supplemental source of funding for military Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs. To find out more about AAFES' history and mission, please visit our Web site at <http://www.aafes.com/pa/default.asp>.

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