Exchange Leaders to Share Stories of Their Military Service in HEROES Lunch and Learn
On Nov. 6, the Exchange’s HEROES group will present a special lunch and learn titled “Our Heroes’ Stories,” featuring four Exchange senior leaders who are military Veterans.
Exchange Director/CEO Tom Shull, a Vietnam War-era Army Veteran, will make closing remarks after the discussion. The lunch and learn will be at 11 a.m. Central on Wednesday, Nov. 6, via Microsoft Teams.
The panel will feature Chief Administrative Officer Tom Lozier, a Navy Veteran; Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Fred Hannah, who served in the Army; Real Estate Senior Vice President Mike Smietana, an Air Force Veteran and HEROES co-executive champion; and South Central Regional Vice President Antonio Porter, a Marine Veteran.
Vice President of Corporate Policy Brad Nisbett, HEROES’ other executive champion and an Army Veteran, will introduce the event. HEROES members Ari Diggs, a Procurement contract specialist and Navy Veteran, and Thelma Fajardo, a Real Estate project manager, will moderate the session, which will feature military service-related questions to highlight the Exchange value story and Veteran advocacy.
“We’re expecting a lively panel of strong interest to the workforce,” said Smietana, who is also co-executive champion of HEROES, which recognizes the contributions and sacrifices of Exchange associates and retirees who are Veterans, their spouses and family members. “More than 80% of associates have a connection to the military, which brings even more relevancy to this event that’s timed for Veterans Day.”
Shull is a 1973 graduate of the United States Military Academy. His numerous line and staff assignments in the Army include assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy and commander of a mechanized infantry company. In 1981, he served as a White House Fellow in the Office of the Chief of Staff. In his last active-duty assignment, then-Maj. Shull was military assistant to Robert C. McFarlane, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Lozier, a 1974 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, served 12½ years in the Navy and 12½ in the Reserves. At one point during his naval career, he served as planning officer for the Navy Exchange Command. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Chief of Naval Operations and retired as a captain.
An Army retiree with 32 years of service, Hannah served as commander of the Exchange’s Europe/Southwest Asia region from 2011 to 2014. He was named vice president of Government Relations, Outreach and Engagement in August 2018. In this capacity, he developed and executed outreach strategies and programs to establish and strengthen relationships with Army and Air Force commands and various organizations, including local, city and state governments. He assumed his current position in January 2024. During his military career, he served in Operation Desert Shield/Storm and deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Smietana served 26 years in the Air Force as a career Civil Engineer officer. He was a Mission Support Group commander and twice commanded civil engineer squadrons, serving in a variety of CE assignments. He was assigned to the Headquarters Air Combat Command staff at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, and assigned twice to the Pentagon at the Air Staff: once as an action officer responsible for both military and non-appropriated fund construction, and later as an Air Force Housing Division chief. He also served as senior military assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics.
Porter served in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 22 years, including active and reserve duty. His major military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Achievement Medal (Gold Star), Navy and Marine Corps Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal and Basic Parachutist Badge. His daughter Victoria serves in the Army, and son Antonio Jr. serves in the Marine Corps.
Exchange Special Emphasis Programs and EEODI
Associates interested in learning more about HEROES can contact HEROES Program Manager Shalandrea Smith (SmithSha@aafes.com) or Technical Leader Sandra Wicker (WickerS@aafes.com) for more information. For information about Exchange special emphasis programs or the Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion office, visit the SharePoint portal.
Throughout the fiscal year, Exchange special emphasis programs have held contests to update and modernize logos representing the groups. HEROES recently launched its logo contest, which is part of a wider effort to update and modernize logos across special emphasis programs. Deadline for the HEROES contest is Nov. 15; you can read more about it here.
