@SecDef, @DODResponse, @RepPatHarrigan, @CDRUNCCFCUSFK, @USForcesKorea, @GIKorea Please investigate the longest running scam since the end of the Korean War that is costing US taxpayers millions.
Referenced in my book, The Dawn Patrol Diaries: pic.twitter.com/xujgmdaoON— James Card (@james__card) April 5, 2025
I still remember the good old days when ajummas tent followed units around in the field and now there is an AAFES mobile exchange instead:
U.S. troops arriving here for the annual Freedom Shield exercise have access to snacks, beverages and cold-weather gear, thanks to a mobile field exchange set up for the first time in a decade. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service erected the mobile field exchange, or MFE, on this base south of Seoul as part of the large-scale defense training involving thousands of American and South Korean troops.
“One of our responsibilities is to ensure that the necessities of our airmen, soldiers and Marines supporting this exercise are met,” Air Force Col. Jeff Elliot, commander of Osan’s 51st Mission Support Group, told Stars and Stripes on Thursday. “And with that, we partnered with AAFES to make sure that we could get that quality of life.”
You can read more at the link.
I guess this change really doesn’t matter because the blackmarketers always seem to get what they need regardless of what AAFES and the commissaries do:
The U.S. military has lifted monthly commissary purchase limits and eased other restrictions on shoppers at base stores in South Korea.
The new policy, which took effect Wednesday, also allows even patrons who don’t have purchasing privileges to enter commissaries and department store-style exchanges, although they’re not allowed to buy anything.
The change came as U.S. Forces Korea, the main command for some 28,500 troops based on the divided peninsula, is trying to make it a more attractive assignment.
However, limits remain as USFK seeks to prevent black market sales of goods sold on base. Alcohol sales, for example, will continue to be restricted.
Authorized shoppers also must show a military ID or ration card at the cash register, according to the new policy that was announced in a Sept. 11 memo signed by Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Williams, USFK chief of staff.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but some of the biggest blackmarket schemes in the past have involved AAFES and commissary employees. If it gets too bad I guess USFK could always send in the clowns again.
