On Feb. 3, 2003—22 years ago this week—the Exchange celebrated the grand opening of a new store at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. More than 300 people stood in line for the grand opening, with Exchange Commander Maj. Gen. Kathryn Frost helping cut the ribbon.
Customers were treated to free sandwiches and cake—and free photographs with camels outside the store.
To serve Warfighters During Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Exchange opened dozens of stores in Southwest Asia. Thousands of associates voluntarily deployed to that part of the world to serve the troops.
When the Exchange arrived at Al Udeid in October 2001, it operated out of a small stockroom. Within months, that expanded to a 90-by-30-foot tactical field Exchange (TFE), which was stocked with food and drinks, electronics, clothes, toiletries, reading material, compact discs and DVDs, and other items that arrived weekly to bring troops the comforts and tastes of home. Associates worked 16-hour days to get the TFE ready; one manager worked 47 straight hours, according to the July 2002 Exchange Post.
The TFE evolved into the new store that opened in February 2003. Today, the Exchange operates BXs at Al Udeid’s Coalition Complex and Blatchford-Preston Complex, as well as at As Saliyah Air Base in Qatar and at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar’s capital.
Leave a Reply