On Aug. 19, 1993, 30 years ago this month, the Exchange opened Firestone Master Care Car Center at Fort Lewis. It was the first such facility on a military installation in CONUS, opening a new era for automotive care at the Exchange.
The center quickly embraced the military community, occasionally going above and beyond to service those who serve. According to a February 1994 Exchange Post article, when Soldiers deployed to Somalia were scheduled to return to the base, Firestone Manager Michael Zahringer and his team responded to a request to be in the lot where the Soldiers had parked their cars before deploying—in case the cars wouldn’t start or otherwise needed mechanical help after being parked for so long.
The same article included a note from a grateful customer—whose family had just lost their home in a fire during the 1993 holiday season—thanking the Fort Lewis Firestone team for discovering that the brake drum on their car had broken in half. “The help we received from Firestone quite possibly saved the lives of my family again,” the customer wrote. “It is my hope that those involved know just how much we appreciate their help. There truly aren’t enough words to express the thanks I feel they deserve.”
A second Firestone Car Care Center opened on Sept. 1, 2000, at Travis Air Force Base. There are now 41 locations at Exchanges in CONUS and Hawaii. One location, at the MacDill AFB Exchange, even temporarily featured a waiting room “museum” with more than 800 pieces of military memorabilia collected by its manager, a Marine Corps Veteran.
The Exchange’s newest Firestone Complete Car Care Center held its grand opening in June 2022 at Fort Jackson. It has eight bays and offers services including oil change, tire rotation, wheel alignment, tire replacement, brake service, diagnostics, engine tune-ups and more.
The original Exchange Firestone at Fort Lewis is still going strong after 30 years of providing quality service to our military customers and their families.
To celebrate Firestone’s 30th anniversary of serving the military, local events will be held at three selected locations: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Joint Base Andrews and Fort Campbell. The celebration events will include a brand-new van donation from Firestone to the local Boys & Girls Club of America, a community cookout and giveaways.
Sources: Exchange Post archives, Exchange Post History on Flickr, Services & Food Directorate
Leave a Reply