VP of Administration, Retired Army Col. Tom Ockenfels Prepares for Retirement from the Exchange

The Vice President of Administration of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service wears many hats—travel oversight, security detail, budget planning, suspicious package examination just to name a few. Retired U.S. Army Col. Tom Ockenfels has worn his fair share.

After nine years in the position, he prepares to call an end to his Exchange career at the end of 2023.

Exchange Memories

Ockenfels was named Director of Staff in 2014, shortly after retiring from the Army following 31 years of service. The position was renamed to VP of Administration in 2018. As VP of Administration, his responsibilities have included countless areas of the Exchange’s operations, serving as an ambassador and liaison between senior leaders and other headquarters and organizations that work with the Exchange.

“There was a lot to the job that was administrative as the job title suggests,” he noted. “At the same time, I never knew what would come across my desk any given day.”

As a go-to subject matter expert, Ockenfels was called to handle a wider variety of issues than perhaps any other Exchange associate.

“There was one point where a suspicious package showed up at our Stoneridge facility,” he recalled. “It was oddly shaped, there was erratic printing and white powder, so I was dispatched down there to see what was going on as a ‘command representative,’ so to speak.

“Day to day I really didn’t know what was going to happen or what would be necessary.”

In another instance, Ockenfels was called down to work with security at headquarters as a suspicious person set up a camera across the street from the guard shack and was filming the facility.

“That fell under my purview again, as I worked with the facilities management office and security staff to figure out how to handle it,” he said.

“The Exchange was way out of left field in a lot of ways from anything I had done before, and I learned a lot.”

Military Moments

Not having early aspirations of a military career nor many close military connections in his family, Ockenfels originally saw the Army as a path to college while growing up in Phoenix.

“I had several uncles who served in World War II but very little knowledge of exactly what they did,” he said. “Growing up, my brother and I would help out my father with the American Legion which he was a part of, but it never occurred to me as a reason to join at that time.”

During his senior year, college did not look like a viable financial option.

“Not having the money for college, I decided to apply for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,” Ockenfels said. “I got turned down flat.

“At only 17, I figured I could still enlist, do my four years, get my G.I. Bill and go to college. That was my plan—obviously it did not work out like that.”

Ockenfels was stationed at Fort Jackson for basic training, then on to Fort Eisenhower (then Fort Gordon) for advanced training where his instructors quickly realized he was more fit for officer duty.

“One of my instructors said that I was probably not a typical enlisted guy and recommended that I look into Officer Candidate School,” he recalled of his time at advanced training. “I told him how I had gotten denied from West Point, but he recommended applying to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS), which was at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey at the time.”

Ockenfels attended USMAPS from August 1980 until July 1981, attending West Point until his graduation in May 1985. His commissioned service began as a lieutenant in Alaska, serving as a platoon leader and company executive officer in Company B, 6-327th Infantry Regiment and then support platoon leader in 5-9th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright.

“While I was in Alaska, I was thinking I probably wouldn’t want to do that kind of work for my whole career,” Ockenfels said. “I eventually started considering transitioning into logistics and attended the Infantry Advanced Course at Fort Moore (then Fort Benning).”

He was then assigned to Fort Johnson (then Fort Polk) in Louisiana where he commanded Company B, 105th Forward Support Battalion, 5th Infantry Division. Later he was assigned as the Support Operations Officer and Battalion Executive Officer of the 215th Forward Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Cavazos (then Fort Hood), Texas.

His first overseas assignment took him, his wife Cece and young daughter Analise to Germany, where his family spent four years. He served as Chief of the Troop Branch, 3rd Corps Support Command in Wiesbaden and deputy commander of the 7th Corps Support Group in Bamberg.

After three years in Germany, Ockenfels deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003, serving in Kuwait and Iraq as deputy commander of the 7th Corps Support Group. He also served with Army Materiel Command while commanding the Combat Equipment Battalion at Camp As Salayah in Qatar.

“I was in Iraq at the very beginning of the war, and it was pretty intense fighting we were preparing for,” Ockenfels said. “We were very busy repairing and pushing supplies out all summer.”

The Ockenfels family returned stateside in 2004, after which Tom spent time at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and the Eisenhower School of National Security and Resource Strategy (then the Industrial College of the Armed Forces) in Washington, D.C.

PXs Overseas

Ockenfels was present for the opening of the first Main Exchange at Balad Air Base during the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he saw firsthand the importance of the facility to service members.

“The first thing I remembered of the PX opening there was the line of people being all the way around the building,” he remembered. “I wanted to get in like everyone else, but it was a few days to a week before it settled down and I could get in.

“It was very important for the Exchange to show up since people could finally get what they needed—uniforms, toiletries, everything. It was a huge draw.”

What’s Next

Ockenfels is preparing for his next journey.

“My wife is still working as a teacher, but we will definitely have a lot more flexibility with my retirement from the Exchange,” he said. “At some point I would like to get into doing tutoring of my own, probably at a community learning center. Math is my strong suit so I would like to help kids with that.”

Family Serving Family

Coming to the Exchange after an Army career spanning over three decades, Ockenfels’ look “behind the curtain” of the organization’s worldwide operations was still a novel experience.

“From the outside, even in the military, you have no idea the size of the Exchange’s operation,” he noted. “Getting to see the coordination that has to take place worldwide to get things where they need to and how many people it takes to get these things on the shelves for our service members is really special.”

Recalling a personal memory from his family’s time in Germany, Ockenfels remembered that even something as simple as feeling that his young daughter, then in elementary school, was safe to explore the PX alone was invaluable.

“When my wife and I needed to shop in Bamberg, my daughter just wanted to watch TV,” he said. “I had no problem letting her go off on her own to just sit in the Exchange in the TV section.

“It was a big part of her life at that point, and the fact that she could go into the PX and be fine, be safe, was very nice for us.

If you’d like to wish Tom well on his retirement journey, please comment on this story.