Poland Associates Rally to Open Three MFEs in Nine Days

Associates at the tip of the spear worked for nine days this month to open three mobile field Exchanges (MFEs) in Poland and launched the organization’s first Exchange rodeo truck. The operations are supporting U.S. troops engaging in military exercises.

The MFEs will strengthen the readiness and resiliency of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team and the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., as they conduct bilateral, joint and multinational training exercises for U.S. Army Europe Operation Atlantic Resolve in support of NATO.

The MFEs will remain until troops rotate out this fall.

“Exchange contingency facilities are essential to ensuring the best customers in the world are taken care of, wherever they are called to serve,” said Lt. Col. Shane Barnes, chief of plans and operations for the Exchange’s Europe/Southwest Asia Region. “We improve the quality-of-life and morale for the troops by giving them access to everything from snacks to toiletries they are accustomed to back home.”

The first 53-foot MFE arrived Feb 7 outside of Toruń.  A team of 10 associates quickly assembled shelves, unloaded merchandise from an accompanying trailer, and set up the point of sale system.  The MFE opened Feb 9, a day ahead of schedule.

The second MFE arrived at Camp Trzebień on Feb 9 and opened Feb 12, and a third opened at Świętoszów on Feb 16. The latter MFE’s grand opening was well-received by Soldiers, generating more than $15,000 in sales that day.

“These Soldiers are far from home, training every day in remote locations,” said David Jimenez, Poland’s Exchange business manager, who assisted in setting up the MFEs. “Coming into the mobile field Exchange to buy something familiar brightens their day.”

The Poland team deployed the first Exchange rodeo truck (ERT)—a gutted 7-ton box truck fitted with shelving and merchandise—to Skwierzyna Feb. 22. (Read more about it)

The fourth MFE is scheduled to open in the near future. Year-round in Poland, the Exchange operates two DOX-t’s and one MFE in enduring locations supporting military exercises.