Editorial Comment —March 2011 Nobody Does It Better — 65 Years of Caring for The Navy Family   As the modern U.S. Navy has evolved, so has the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM), and although it has left behind some of its humble origins in the mercantile bumboats that once plied their trade among ships in port, it has retained an essential core of humility — along with an altogether singular sense of dedication to service — that motivates its people, each and every day, to do the best they can do for the Navy Family.

And, to date, it is impossible to imagine any organization on land, sea or air being able to do a better job of caring for the Sailor and his or her family as the Navy Exchange System has done since it was formed in 1946.

Each day, as staff, vendors and Navy personnel crossed the threshold of the Brooklyn, N.Y., headquarters of the former Navy Resale System Office (NRSO) — a NEXCOM predecessor — during the years before its move to Staten Island, N.Y., and later Virginia Beach, Va., they had to pass beneath the tumbling façade of the giant and dilapidated edifices of Bush Terminal.

Running this gauntlet was the least of exchange headquarters personnel's concerns; after all, there was a scaffold and a mesh net to catch any falling bricks, black cats or groggy longshoremen. This merely came with the territory; the real business of the exchange system was written and revisited every night, on a sign that hung above the door, that asked, “What Have You Done for the Sailor Today?”

The old sign may not have physically made the trip to Virginia Beach Boulevard, but it didn't need to. This ethos is written in the hearts and minds of all NEXCOM personnel, and inculcated in them from the minute they join the command. The leadership and staff come from all walks of life — civilian retail, military service, main street businesses — and many of them are spouses, dependents, retirees or veterans. The understanding of what it means to serve the greatest Navy in the world and their families is all around them; it becomes part of the employee, and the tradition of excellence is maintained.

NEXCOM's 29th Commander, Rear Adm. (Sel.) Glenn C. Robillard, SC, USN, sensed this abundantly in the weeks he spent at headquarters before taking the Exchange helm, and observed, “Across the board, in management, in retail sales, in uniforms, in services, in distribution, in telecommunications, you name it ... I have never experienced a more dedicated and enthusiastic workforce. I am so incredibly impressed. It is you, individually and collectively, who make NEXCOM such a success. I am extremely proud to be a member of your team.”

Over the last 15 years, including the recently concluded fiscal 2010, which saw NEXCOM beat prior year sales volume by a remarkable 4.4 percent in an especially tough economic climate, that track record of success has been nothing short of phenomenal. It has encompassed periods of four-straight and seven-straight years of sales gains, with the only bumps in the road occurring simultaneously with the universal retail dip that occurred as a result of the events of 9/11, and the recent recessionary year of 2009.

But sales volume, which tells only one chapter of the story of a business, is a merely a partial measure of a quality-of-life benefit. For other essential highlights of the NEXCOM resale story, the reader must turn to such metrics as the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), Spouse and Associate Satisfaction Surveys, Market Basket savings, dividends returned to morale, welfare and recreation (MWR), and exchange recapitalization.

In CSI, for example, NEXCOM is a retail and resale leader, with an 83 score, far ahead of the overall retail industry average of 76. It's not so much that NEXCOM is exceeding expectations — Navy expectations begin with sparkling deck plates and just get taller after that — the real story is that Navy personnel and their families love their NEXs because NEXCOM has honed its business practices into a fine art of taking care of all the details, right down to the demographics of the individual bases, ships, communities and commands they serve.

It didn't happen overnight. Such prowess is hard-won in any retail organization. But with a cadre of executives who have deep roots in both civilian and military merchandising and the unique ways of the Navy, NEXCOM has put a smile on Navy family faces from NAS Oceana, Va., to NB San Diego, Calif., and NS Rota, Spain, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, NSF Diego Garcia and other far-flung parts of the world.

NEXCOM has the Midas touch, generating an average savings to patrons of 22 percent or more, while still returning millions — $50 million this most recent year — in funding to morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) programs.

Within the organization, the executive leadership, district managers, merchandising and store managers and associates themselves know the recipe inside out for a great exchange service: They know and appreciate their customers' needs, and work hard to ensure they are met; they are deeply connected to the bases that they serve, and they work in lockstep with the commanding officer in providing critical services to the base, or ship, as only NEXCOM can do.

As a direct result, the Navy Exchange is viewed as an essential element of a base's quality of life — and Navy MWR flourishes with its child care centers, fitness centers, lodges, clubs, educational resources, name-brand casual and theme dining, a premier uniform program, and other military family support programs essential to readiness, retention, recruitment and quality of life.

In the pages of this issue are 65th anniversary tributes from the Senate and House Armed Services Committees; the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF); the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV); the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO); the Commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP), and NEXCOM's resale partners at the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA); the Marine Corps Exchanges (MCX); the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES); the Coast Guard Exchange System (CGES) and the Veterans Canteen Service (VCS).

A common theme runs through them all — the recognition of NEXCOM's commitment to honoring the sacrifices Sailors and their families make for this nation, and saluting its dedication to delivering superior service and support to Sailors and the Navy Family.

The exchange system's origins may have been humble, but NEXCOM personnel know that as they leave their posts at the end of the day, wherever they are in the world, when they pass the threshold, they can answer the question posed by that little old sign above the door in Brooklyn, by saying, “Everything I could, and nobody could do it better.”

Bravo Zulu!