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New AAFES chief dresses down uniform issues

  • Published
  • By Capt. David Tomiyama
  • Army and Air Force Exchange Service Public Affairs
DALLAS (AFNS) --  As the Army and Air Force Exchange Service enlisted advisor to the commanding general of AAFES, Chief Master Sgt. Jeffry Helm now has the distinct opportunity to impact not only the service he loves, but all branches of service about uniform issues. He plans to carry out his mission through education and communication.

"Most people think of AAFES as only a store. I want our customers to know about everything we offer and how dividends go right back to them through Army Morale Welfare Recreation and Air Force Services programs," Chief Helm said. "I also want to stay in touch with the troops and take care of them by providing the goods and services they want."

One of Chief Helm's first tasks is to take an active role in communicating the uniform issues across the services. Those issues include the availability of the Air Force All Purpose Environmental Clothing System parkas and the Army physical training uniform, and the color deviations of the Airman Battle Uniform.

"I've always been big on the personal appearance of Airmen," said Chief Helm. "For troops not to be able to get an ABU jacket or PT gear bothers me because it affects their ability to do their job."

Officials at AAFES' Military Clothing Sales Stores have already moved to meet the needs of Airmen. With only a small batch of APECS jackets ready for distribution to MCSS for the winter months, AAFES distributors had them sent only to bases that are in cold weather states.

"As cold as it might get at Travis, Luke or Randolph, those Airmen at Offutt, Minot or Eielson need them a lot more than they do," Chief Helm said. "Airmen in warmer areas such as Florida can purchase the wet weather parka instead. Because of the shortage of parkas, we're going to meet the needs of those at the cold weather bases first."

The clothing stores are managed by AAFES officials for the Army and Air Force to provide uniforms and gear for service members. AAFES officials took over the uniform programs in the early 80's on behalf of the services. By agreeing to provide uniforms to the troops, service officials allowed "supply sergeants" to concentrate on other mission-related duties and gave AAFES officials the mission of outfitting the war fighter. AAFES officials can only stock and order uniforms. It is up to services official to procure the funds and Defense Supply Center Philadelphia official to supply them.

The DSCP has strict guidelines when it comes to producing uniforms. Unlike commercial clothing companies who can produce products overseas, all government uniforms, including military uniforms, must be produced in the U.S., down to even the thread. This regulation makes it challenging for DSCP officials to find companies in the U.S. who can produce the uniforms and at the high rate the services want.

DSCP officials continue to work the color problems between the ABU tops and bottoms. The range of color variation that is acceptable to Airmen is being worked by officials at the DSCP, AAFES and the Air Force.

Besides the daily emails and weekly conference calls between officials at AAFES and DSCP, further steps are being taken to help facilitate supply chain issues. In December, a DSCP liaison is scheduled to arrive at AAFES headquarters, joining the active duty Soldier and Airmen assigned to MCSS as liaisons to the services. With new Army service uniforms, Air Force service dress and PT uniforms and Navy Working Uniforms arriving in the coming years, the collaboration between the three government entities should reduce availability issues before they arise.

"The key is collaboration between the services, DSCP and AAFES," said Chief Helm. "We all need to work together in order to meet the demands of the troops. In the end, they are the ones who come up short when they can't pick up the items they need."

While uniforms issues remain a top priority, taking care of Guard and Reserve troops is another priority for Chief Helm. He recently attended the 2008 Air National Guard Command Chief Enlisted Call to educate senior NCOs on the AAFES Web site, which brings the exchange benefit to troops who are geographically separated from AAFES operations on installations.

In the coming months, Chief Helm will travel to installations in the Pacific and Europe to directly address issues those regions are facing.

"It's important for me to let our customers know that AAFES is a military command with a retail mission and we're concerned about the quality of goods and services provided to them" Chief Helm said. "We aren't contractors; we're a part of the community we service. Our customers need to know that."