Providential Endowment
Working with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service
by
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The Clark Air Force Base main store was located at the center of the main shopping center of the base. The store was departmentalized, and I was assigned to the souvenir department, which was located at the center of the building. The department manager where I was assigned was a tough, hard, and dry-speaking person named Edmundo Gomez. Due to rampant losses at the base main store, he was once questioned by the Office of Special Investigation (OSI) agent, and when asked what the other department managers were doing, he replied, “Why don’t you ask them?”
Despite being almost rude, Ed was good. He knew everything there is to know about his department. When I first reported for work, I was not wearing a tie, so he opened a drawer full of ties, mostly bow ties and a few long ties. “Take your pick, kiddo,” he said. “You are welcome to use any of those.” He liked to wear a bow tie. I preferred the regular long tie, so I took one and put it on.
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About the Book
Cecilio N. Navarro Jr. knew he had big shoes to fill growing up in the Philippines.
His father had managed to become a schoolteacher and post Exchange manager at Clark Air Force Base even though he only had a sixth-grade education.
After his father died, he drew on his faith and landed a job at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which is a retailer located on bases worldwide. He spent thirty-nine years at the Exchange, representing employees who faced termination and even running for union president.
The author was one of the first Philippines Exchange employees to receive special immigrant status to come to the United States because of his exemplary work. While he had to feed a family of four on $4.25 an hour, he stayed upbeat as he chased success.
Join the author as he shares how a job at the Exchange led him from the Philippines to the United States, to Germany at the pinnacle of his career—where he witnessed the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
About the Author
Cecilio N. Navarro, Jr. is a retired field accountant from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) with more than thirty-nine years of service. He began his career at the Philippine Area Exchange (PHAX) and spent time at Okinawa Exchange region, in the United States, and Europe. He lives in Oakley, California.