National Fried Chicken Day was Thursday, but nobody said you can’t celebrate it (or keep celebrating it) today, or throughout the weekend. So Flashback Friday has prepared a bucketful of items about fried chicken in the Exchange’s past.
1964: Pictured, a special on fried chicken and other items commemorates the Exchange’s 69th anniversary.
Circa 1975: Pictured, an associate advertises fried chicken made at an Exchange-exclusive restaurant.
Spring 1986: The first Exchange-operated Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken and Biscuits opened at Fort Stewart. The restaurant was brought on post at the request of command for a name-brand chicken restaurant.
During Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Popeyes opened locations at Kandahar Airfield (pictured at top of story) in Afghanistan and throughout Iraq. Now known as Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, the restaurant currently has 83 Exchange-run locations worldwide, including three in Southwest Asia. (Pictured: a Soldier enjoys a “taste of home” at an AAFES Popeyes at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, circa 2004.)
July 16, 1990: The Exchange-exclusive Chicken Loft opens at Fort Rucker (now Fort Novosel). Chicken Loft was one of several Exchange-exclusive restaurants that also included La Casa de Amigos, American Eatery and more. Although a few of these restaurants still exist, including a handful of locations of Anthony’s Pizza, the demand for name-brand restaurants has made Exchange-exclusive restaurants less common.
Aug. 1, 1990: The first Exchange-operated Kentucky Fried Chicken opens in Fort Campbell, Ky.
1997: The Exchange signs a franchise agreement with Church’s Chicken, at the time the second-largest chicken franchise in the world. The first location opens in 1998 at Fort Sill, followed soon after by locations at Fort Benning (now Fort Moore) and Hurlburt Field, Fla.
The Exchange no longer operates Church’s or KFC restaurants, but Forts Campbell, Sill and Benning, as well as Hurlburt Field, now all have Popeyes locations.
March 13, 2019: The first Slim Chickens at a military installation opens at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. The photo above shows troops lining up at the grand opening of a Slim Chickens at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Oct. 6, 2020: The Exchange’s first Raising Cane’s (pictured) opens at Fort Bliss. Because of COVID concerns, it was drive-through only during its first several months. On Aug. 28, 2021, the company’s 25th anniversary, Raising Cane’s opened a location at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
Sources: Exchange Post archives, Exchange History on Flickr.
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