FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- Fort Rucker leadership and Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials cut the ribbon on the $13.5 million renovation project at the Exchange’s grand reopening event Dec. 1.
The building-wide updates bring an “improved and modern shopping experience” to the Fort Rucker Exchange, according to Brenda Hyland, AAFES general manager for Maxwell, Gunter and Fort Rucker.
“At the Exchange, we are families serving families and we are honored to be a part of the Fort Rucker family,” Hyland said. “It is an honor being able to contribute to making Fort Rucker even better than it already was.”
The renovations, which began on Veterans Day in 2020, impacted practically the entire building that houses the main store, the food court, the Four Seasons and various vendor shops, she said. In addition to bringing Starbucks, Qdoba and a modern look to the food court and other vendors, the renovations also included major infrastructure upgrades – including new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems – new fixtures throughout the entire building, renovated bathrooms and a new bathroom in the main store, a new BE FIT area, and new flooring and improved lighting throughout.
While most of the work is complete, there is still some work going on in the building, the general manager added.
“I would like to express my personal gratitude to the Fort Rucker community for all of your support during the last two-plus years – you are truly the best customers in the world!” Hyland said.
She also thanked AAFES leadership and officials who helped with the project, the Fort Rucker Directorate of Public Works, garrison leadership and “our store and food court teams who’ve worked so hard to keep everything up and running to help all our customers, even throughout all of the construction. They’re my true heroes!”
While he is thrilled with the results of the project, Col. Robert J. Holcombe, garrison commander, said he is also impressed with AAFES’ commitment to the Fort Rucker community.
“If you’ve ever been deployed you know you have the Soldiers to the left and right of you, but you also know who is right behind you: AAFES with a truck, or their drinks or food bars,” he said. “There is no other corporation that’s here for the Soldiers – that was created for the Soldiers – like AAFES is. They are our partners all the way and their commitment to Fort Rucker is huge.
“They took this building and transformed it,” Holcombe added. “It’s something that AAFES is not doing across the Army anymore – everyone knows that budgets are tight. The fact that they decided to invest in Fort Rucker, invest in this community, speaks a lot about the community and our support for this store, but it also speaks a lot about AAFES and their commitment to us as Soldiers.”
He then thanked all of the AAFES employees for their efforts.
“What you do really matters, it makes this place a home and we feel it, we know it,” Holcombe added. “You are giving us a place to live, a place to raise our kids, a place to raise our families and it means a lot to us.
“When you grow up in the military, you don’t have a hometown,” he said. “People ask you where you are from, ‘Oh, I’m in the military.’ Our hometown is Fort Rucker or Fort Drum (New York) or Fort Polk (Louisiana), that’s our hometown. You guys are making this our hometown – thank you so much for doing that.”
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