AAFES In Iraq

AAFES in Iraq aka Army Air Force Exchange Service can be found on almost all of our military bases in Iraq.

Over the years they have gone from being located in whatever was available to being placed in brand new facilities. Depending on what is going on, the AAFES will have a good stock of merchandise or it will be empty.

When everything is running well and the convoys are running then there is an abundance of stuff carried by AAFES in Iraq. If the convoys are getting hit and it is unsafe for travel, they will run low on many things.

Also there will be empty shelves when units are changing out. The new people moving in need stuff they did not bring with them so there tends to be a run on the stock.

Some AAFES in Iraq carry meat while others do not. It is expensive but there is nothing like having your own little BBQ.

When I was at Al Asad, I would barbecue every Friday and invite some of our customers to join us. Charcoal can be a problem. That is why our store at Al Asad always had a good supply of it, almost always. Not much I could do though when I would get a thousand bags in and it was all gone in an hour. Everyone wanted to barbecue there--military and civilians.

Sometimes you will find things in the AAFES in Iraq that do not make sense. One time I found a cork screw. Why? There is no alcohol allowed in Iraq.

They have a lot of good stuff. Food, snacks, DVDs, CDs, TVs, DVD players, clothing but not for large people, candy when it is not hot. Chocolate melts so usually during the summer it is non-existent.

They take cash, credit/debit cards and I think checks but do not hold me to this one. You can get up to $20.00 back on the card. Sometimes the system is down so all they can take is cash. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep an emergency supply of cash in your barracks.

Depending on where you are stationed, you could be standing in line for up to an hour to make your purchase at AAFES in Iraq. I have seen a lot of improvements in this area but lines continue to be long.

The really bad thing is when you stand in line for an hour to pay with a debit card and then get to the register just as the debit machine goes down. This can really be upsetting. But no use getting upset. It is just how things are in Iraq.

In addition to AAFES there will be other shops around depending on where you are located. The military tries to let Iraqis on to the base to sell their wares. You can find jewelry--but beware--it is not always what they say it is. Clothes--some places even have people who make suits and my favorite DVDs.

You can get a good DVD for about two to three bucks. Of course it is pirated. I have found these in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It is a hoot to be watching a DVD and as you do someone in the theater gets up to go to the bathroom and blocks the picture for a few seconds.

These DVDs have been copied from a recording someone made while watching the movie in a theater. Sound is always bad. I have seen them where they are recorded straight from the TV and some recorded from the original DVD.

The thing to remember is that these "haggie" movies do not always work in an American DVD player. In case you did not know, each DVD has a region code embedded into it. America is region code 2. In the Middle East I think it is 4. So if you bring a DVD player from the states it will not play one of the "haggie" movies or one you buy legitimately from a store (but they always take out any sex scenes in these). So you will have to buy a DVD from a local merchant in order to watch these movies.

Sometimes they will play on the computer with no problem, but sometimes a prompt comes up saying if you want to play this DVD you have to change the region code. You can do this. But only three times. Once this is done three times then the computer is stuck on the last region code forever. The only way to change it is to wipe out the hard drive.

They do make a DVD player that is for all regions. I got one of these. It was $38 from the PX and it does a fairly good job.

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