Forty-two Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students got see how the bread is made at the Yokota Exchange, literally. Students were bused in to visit the bakery, the first stop on their tour of Exchange operations.
Wearing protective clothing covers and hair nets, middle and high school students were led through the bakery by Food Court Manager Corey Bennett and Bakery Plant Manager Satoru Ogino. Students participated in dough-making and baking. At the end of their walkthrough, students made sandwiches with bread freshly baked and pulled from the ovens.
“Most had no idea the bread on shelves at the commissary is baked fresh here, right here on Yokota, by the Exchange bakery,” Bennett said.
Next stop was the distribution center, where students viewed the storage, shipping and receiving areas. Fe Tanaka, the assistant distribution center manager, assisted Bennett in leading the tour.
Afterward, students visited the Exchange’s airline catering service—touring the kitchen where meals are prepared for Patriot Express flights—with Bennett and Shunichi Kobayashi, the airline catering manager. The kitchen prepares more than 600 meals a week for the airline and an additional 1,500 bento boxes for Yokota Air Base and Camp Fuji Expresses. Students also ventured inside the scissor lift trucks, where they were lifted high into the air.
Students then embarked for the Yokota Community Center, where they toured the main store, including the sales floor, stock room, loss prevention office, concessions and services and Military Clothing. They finished the tour in the food court, where they had lunch and received goodie bags, including coupons they can use in future visits.
BX leaders—Frederick Crowther, loss prevention manager; Takashi Otabe, operations manager; Yusuke Iwai, stock room manager; Darrin Hanzalik, services operations assistant; and Fujiko Mori, Military Clothing store manager—helped the students make their way through their respective duty stations.
Seeking to bolster public trust and strengthen the Exchange’s relationship with the community, the Yokota Exchange started tours in fall 2022. The BX team conducts two tours a month, lasting about three to four hours.
The store has held tours in the past with commanders, so extending the invitation to the community did not take much in additional planning.
Tours have become popular, with wing and squadron command leaders jumping in when they are able to attend, Bennett said. Key spouses and private organization representatives have joined in previous tours.
Vincent Lesesne, administrative assistant at the Yokota Exchange Headquarters, said tours are a great opportunity to educate the community on operations.
“We also use this time to advocate use of our facility, by the Yokota community, for the Yokota community,” Lesesne said.
General Manager Andrew Defelice echoed Lesesne’s sentiment.
“The main point we want to drive home is that the Exchange is also a piece of their home,” Defelice said. “Providing these tours illustrates how the Exchange brings that piece of home to our community and how much support the Exchange provides to our military members overseas.”
Bennett said students were surprised at the scope of Exchange operations.
“Most only view the Exchange as just the store,” Bennett said.
That may also ring true for many Exchange shoppers.
“One of the best ways to change their view is to give them a better understanding of how the Exchange supports the mission and the community,” Bennett said. “Every participant has walked away learning something new about the Exchange.”
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