Completely Random Election: Military exchanges.

[hardcorestitch]

Whether you’ve served or you grew up with someone who served… perhaps you’ve visited an “exchange” at one point… like the Navy or Marine Corps’ equivalents. What are your experiences then or now?

 

[DL1WDW2]

I have been in the Navy Exchange in Port Hueneme, California a long time ago (1972)…
But I wanted to mention the Shades of Green Resort across from the Polynesian Resort has a small exchange store and also sells military theme park tickets.
ShadesofGreen.org

 

[hardcorestitch]

FYI… the NEX stores that were featured in the above video are LITERALLY the ones I frequented… and still do!

I might end up there tomorrow…

 

[wabbott]

Several lifetimes ago, in the early 70s when I was in the USAF, I would shop at the AAFES Base Exchange @ Barksdale AFB. It was a decent store with a good selection. That was about the time WalMart was just getting cranked up.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

"Other" I grew up in an Army life. We had the PX (Post Exchange).

We shopped there for everything from pharmacy stuff to clothes. Kinda like a mini WalMart. Also had a commissary (grocery store) that my mother shopped at once a week.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I remember going to both an PX aka Exchange and a Commissary, we often went to Fort Dix in NJ, Forth Hamilton in Brooklyn, and even one in Fort Wadsworth Staten Island. I'm not sure which acronyms apply. I never went back after the bases were closed in NYC, it was really sad when they closed and as an adult I no longer have access. The base restaurant at Ft Hamilton had a gorgeous view.

 

[hardcorestitch]

I remember going to both an PX aka Exchange and a Commissary, we often went to Fort Dix in NJ, Forth Hamilton in Brooklyn, and even one in Fort Wadsworth Staten Island. I'm not sure which acronyms apply. I never went back after the bases were closed in NYC, it was really sad when they closed and as an adult I no longer have access. The base restaurant at Ft Hamilton had a gorgeous view.

PX is “post”, including a camp. Those are more temporary. A BX is for “base”, permanent setups.

 

[tvguy]

I married into an Air Force Family. I always get the names wrong. PX, BX, Box Store, whatever. All I know is the only thing my MIL bought there was cigarettes and booze. Apparently there are no taxes on either if purchased there.
My in laws divorced long before I married into the family. My FIL depended on the exchange for food. He went once every three months, and had his pickup loaded with ice chests full of frozen meat and veggies.

 

[DodgerGirl]

When my uncle was in the Navy he would sometimes visit the military exchange store and find clothing and other items and he would find good deals on clothing too but when he retired from the Navy he moved on to shop Walmart and Family Dollar because like my other uncle he loved dollar stores too. When I lived in my old house my parents used to get ads for AAFES because the owner of our old house was in the Army and when I saw these ads AAFES reminded me of a military version of Kmart

 

[hardcorestitch]

When my uncle was in the Navy he would sometimes visit the military exchange store and find clothing and other items and he would find good deals on clothing too but when he retired from the Navy he moved on to shop Walmart and Family Dollar because like my other uncle he loved dollar stores too. When I lived in my old house my parents used to get ads for AAFES because the owner of our old house was in the Army and when I saw these ads AAFES reminded me of a military version of Kmart

That’s the knack with the exchanges near my area… they are close to Target, Walmart, and other familiar US civilian stores. Not like the foreign stores where it’s harder to find familiar products…

 

[kanerf]

Army Brat here, so went to the PX and Commissary a lot when I was a kid. As an adult, worked in Germany for 13 years as a DOD contractor and we had PX privileges there.

 

[AlohaNow]

PX is “post”, including a camp. Those are more temporary. A BX is for “base”, permanent setups.

Umm, army 'posts' are not temporary. Fort Bragg, Fort Knox, Fort Hood, etc. have been around for a little while now. West Point is the oldest continuously occupied army post, since 1778. And the PX and commissary there were bangin' back in the 80's. Stuff was so cheap and tax-free!

 

[LuvOrlando]

PX is “post”, including a camp. Those are more temporary. A BX is for “base”, permanent setups.

I just remember the jargon around me. These were on permanent bases, it is also very true that back then I watched a lot of MASH so completely possible I was only half listening so real world and TV got mixed up

 

[Christine]

The Navy and Army mostly use the term PX for Post Exchange. I was an Air Force spouse and typically Air Force people called it a BX for Base Exchange. I also used to work for AAFES and it was definitely a "BX" but Navy people would show up and call it a PX, lol. The Marine Corps people may call it a PX when speaking but on the base, it's called the MCX.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

PX is “post”, including a camp. Those are more temporary. A BX is for “base”, permanent setups.

Don't know about "temporary" for PX. The one we used when I was a kid was large enough that it had 3 locations on the Presidio of San Francisco. It was there for years. Over 200 years as a matter of fact.

 

[hardcorestitch]

The Navy and Army mostly use the term PX for Post Exchange. I was an Air Force spouse and typically Air Force people called it a BX for Base Exchange. I also used to work for AAFES and it was definitely a "BX" but Navy people would show up and call it a PX, lol. The Marine Corps people may call it a PX when speaking but on the base, it's called the MCX.

I’ve never heard the Navy call their exchanges PXs or BXs… they’re just called the NEX…

 

[barkley]

I grew up around multiple military bases (naval and air force) so lots of the neighbors/ my co-workers as I got older had shopping privledges but it seemed like with the advent of costco and the explosion in openings of walmarts many opted for those options for day to day shopping.. that said-there were some items they swore they could not come close to the prices for off base so they would do a quarterly or twice per year stock up trip to the base.

 

[hardcorestitch]

I grew up around multiple military bases (naval and air force) so lots of the neighbors/ my co-workers as I got older had shopping privledges but it seemed like with the advent of costco and the explosion in openings of walmarts many opted for those options for day to day shopping.. that said-there were some items they swore they could not come close to the prices for off base so they would do a quarterly or twice per year stock up trip to the base.

You can also argue with the Japanese US bases too… Seiyu and Livin used to be owned by Walmart and the off base items were generally cheaper.