The Base Exchange.

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
Northeast PA. 3 miles from the Pocono race track
Once I got a duty station, I found the Base Exchange. I know the married guys loved it for the prices. Being single, I loved it for cheap cigarettes, and great stereo equipment. For me, it was the early 70s. I had Akai tape decks, Sansui amp- nothing but the best turntable. Bose 901s. It's kind of strange, you either drank or invested in stereo gear. It varied for me.
 

Our base exchange in Turkey had the oddest collection of stuff. You never knew what was going to be in there. Mundane stuff, exotic stuff, frequently out of the most-needed stuff (white undershirts, diapers, thread, etc.)

The base grocery store was even worse. Milk only came by the quart and was often sour when it got there. On the other hand, you could only buy pancake syrup and cooking oil by the gallon and horseradish came in a quart. Do you know how long it takes to use a quart of horseradish? You had to sign to buy toilet paper and razor blades and if you bought "too much", you got hauled on the carpet to justify your overuse.
 
The very best exchanges that I ever used were the Navy Exchange in Pearl Harbor and the Marine Exchange in Arlington. That Marine Exchange had the really, really good stuff. The Army Exchange at Fort Ord was no slacker either.
 

In Vietnam, we had the PACEX catalog with all the goodies you might find in a good stateside PX but probably much better cameras, stereos and such, since we didn't have access to a PX where I was. Typically, the stuff you would buy from the PACEX catalog was intended to be delivered to your home, not the field. However, it was rather chancy whether what you bought would end up at home or not sometimes. The stateside PX's I saw were very typical, some good stuff, some not so good. I would say that Sam's Club or Costco remind me of these except that the PX isn't set up to be buying 6 months of beef or vegetables in one trip, so the quantity was not like Sam's Club or Costco. There is a PX of sorts at our local VA (The Exchange) that is, again, some good, some so-so, but it is handy to have, as they all were.

Tony
 
Pecos said:
The very best exchanges that I ever used were the Navy Exchange in Pearl Harbor and the Marine Exchange in Arlington. That Marine Exchange had the really, really good stuff. The Army Exchange at Fort Ord was no slacker either.
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Sounds like you’re speaking of the Exchange at Henderson Hall. I spent a couple years up there in the early 70’s but guess i was too young/too poor to appreciate fine shopping...i barely even remember the Exchange. But just around the curve from the Exchange was a miiighty fine Enlisted Club that taught me how to enjoy a cold beer (given that beer and soda were all they served to we grunts). Man oh man, those were the days😉
 
Lizzie00 said:
Sounds like you’re speaking of the Exchange at Henderson Hall. I spent a couple years up there in the early 70’s but guess i was too young/too poor to appreciate fine shopping...i barely even remember the Exchange. But just around the curve from the Exchange was a miiighty fine Enlisted Club that taught me how to enjoy a cold beer (given that beer and soda were all they served to we grunts). Man oh man, those were the days😉
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It was Henderson Hall, and I think that the reason it was so loaded up with high end products is that, for some reason, foreign embassy personnel were allowed to shop there. I was there in the late 1980's
 
In the 50s our Air Force and Commissaries were great. The prices were right and all high end products were found in both. I used them for quite awhile even after I was discharged since I was a reservist.
 
There was nothing remarkable of our base exchanges in the places I was stationed. What was remarkable was the Class Six stores where booze was sold without the usual taxes in the US, making it cheap. I once bought a 40 pounder of Seagram's for the local bar keep in my home town to be sold instead of the heavily taxed hooch in PA. I got a free glass of beer for my efforts.
 
Growing up, the Exchange was our go to shopping place.

On Saturdays, my mom would gather up my brothers and I, and head to whatever base my Dad was
stationed at for haircuts, a movie and visit the Exchange.

When I joined up, the Exchanges kept me in the basics.

Remember waiting for the 'Barge' to tie up on the Island of Shemya
and hoping they had some new Stereo equipment.😃

When stationed at another Radar Site in Nebraska, we drove 151 miles one-way
to visit the commissary and Exchange.

Mostly it was an excuse to visit the 'Big' city.
 
Just throwing this out there.

As of Jan 1, 2020, Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities ( any rating ) can now use
Military Base services. Before it was only open to Active Duty or Retired persons.

Base Exchange, on-base MWR campgrounds, Golf courses, Exchange, Commissaries, etc.
Your 'Veterans Health Identification Card' that shows 'Service Connected' is all you need.

If you live close to a base, might want to check out the Exchange or Commissary.
 
I was in the Military in the 1960's and I used the PX for whatever they had. In Vietnam, it was mostly booze and in the States, I would buy records and sporting goods. Later, when I was a civilian in the 1970's I used to shop at the PX in Berlin for American candy and magazines that anyone could purchase if you had U.S. dollars in cash.
 
Feelslikefar said:
Just throwing this out there.

As of Jan 1, 2020, Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities ( any rating ) can now use
Military Base services. Before it was only open to Active Duty or Retired persons.

Base Exchange, on-base MWR campgrounds, Golf courses, Exchange, Commissaries, etc.
Your 'Veterans Health Identification Card' that shows 'Service Connected' is all you need.

If you live close to a base, might want to check out the Exchange or Commissary.
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Not exactly true. As I was saying in my response just below this one (I guess it is above this one) anybody could buy goods at the PX in Berlin (on Clayallee). All you needed was U.S. dollars. Maybe that was only possible abroad or maybe it was only possible at certain ones. I don't know.
 
Surprisingly enough, Department of Defense retirees can use some base facilities. The Spousal Equivalent spent 11 years in the Navy and then went to work for and retired from the DOD. We have been able to use some of the base RV parks with his DOD retiree papers. Some bases allow use year-round, some only during the off-season and some not at all.

Of course, there are rules that you don't find in the usual RV parks. Those are the only parks I've ever seen that run the dogs through your RV. No guns are allowed on base but they DO NOT ask you if you have any guns. You'd think they'd ask, wouldn't you?
 

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