One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 130 years of family serving family
Who he is: Anthony Mancha Jr., motor vehicle operator, Waco Distribution Center
Years with the Exchange: 6
Military connections: Mancha served 20 years in the Army, retiring as a staff sergeant. His father, Staff Sgt. Anthony Mancha Sr., retired from the Army in 1995.
Exchange connections: Mancha’s father also drove for the Exchange from 2001 to 2006. His mother, Brenda, worked as a secretary in Human Resources at the Kaiserslautern Exchange in Germany.
Memories of Exchange support growing up: “The best part of AAFES was they used to have the Burger Bar back in the day,” Mancha said.
Why he joined the Army: “I got tired of doing the same old thing in my town, Killeen, Texas, so I decided to enlist.”
Memories of Exchange support during his Army days: “There was an Exchange in Samarra, Iraq. A man and a woman used to come there in a convoy and would open it up. The Soldiers helped run it. It had the little things that you needed—the biggest thing for me was the Monster drinks.”
Why he became a truck driver: “When I was about to retire from the Army at Fort Riley, there were some programs the base was sponsoring and paying for. I had the choice of climbing up windmills or being a truck driver, and as a truck driver I didn’t have to climb anything.”
Why he joined the Exchange: “My dad used to work for the Exchange as a truck driver, and he said, ‘Why don’t you put your application in and see what happens?’ My first interview didn’t go so well. But without realizing it, I’d put in two applications, and I got hired to become a mule driver.” (A mule driver moves and organizes around the distribution center lot.) A few months later, he became a full-time MVO.
His routes: “I do runs to the East Coast and to installations like Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Everything else is regional, around Waco.”
Favorite drives: “When I first started, it wasn’t a continuous route. So I got to different places. I had fun going to Florida.”
Supporting the guests: “I hauled a mobile field Exchange to Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico during Operation Allies Welcome, when the Afghanistan guests were preparing to resettle in the U.S.”
What ‘family serving family’ means to him: “It’s about giving back to the military community. Everything we do goes back to the military and their families.
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