Mess-hall era ending as name brands establish beachhead on military bases

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 6, 1999 by Paul King

Last month, Captain D's Seafood Restaurants entered into an agreement with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, or AAFES, to open at least three quick-service theme restaurants on U.S. Army and Air Force bases in the United States and overseas.

In signing the agreement, Ron Walker, president and chief operating officer of the Shoney's Inc.-owned brand, calls the venture a "unique opportunity" for Nashville. Tenn, based Captain D's. The targeted bases are at Fort Hood, Texas; Travis Air Force Base, Calif.; and Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan, with openings scheduled for next spring.

Captain D's franchise deal with AAFES is far from an unusual event. In fact, it is simply the latest example of the changing face of military foodservice as the use of branded concepts in nontraditional locations becomes commonplace.

"The Air Force, like all the service branches, asks a lot of its personnel," says Col. Patrick Eagan, director of materials management for the Air Force Services Agency, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. "We have to do what we can to keep our people happy, and that includes providing them with the kinds of dining experiences they can find off the base."

Eagan, who has logged more than 20 years in the Air Force, remembers a time when base foodservice consisted primarily of a "mess hall," "chow hall" or "dining hail" where recruits and single personnel living on the base could eat three meals a day at a reduced rate. In addition, each branch of the service had a division, known as Morale, Welfare and Recreation, or MWR, which was charged with providing additional programs and services to meet the needs of all personnel connected with the base. Those services, in terms of food, quite often were generic in form and were geared more for the men on base than for civilians or families.

However, the face of the military has changed along with the demands and desires of the personnel that keep it operational.

With the mandatory draft long gone, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have become "corporations," trying like every other business to attract high-quality employees. As such, one of the main focuses of the armed forces now is on providing amenities that will make enlistees and their families feel comfortable during their tours of duty.

"Young men and women entering the military today come in with a history of fast-food experience," says Richard Sheff, vice president of the food and services division of AAFES, which is based in Dallas. "They grew up eating at these branded concepts like Burger King and Taco Bell, and that's what they expect."

Base MWR units are striving to satisfy that expectation, through partnerships with local, regional and national brands, agreements with ancillary organizations such as the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and some proprietary branding.

AAFES, a for-profit corporation that funnels its earnings back to MWR programs, operates more than 1,800 foodservice operations worldwide for interested military installations in all branches of the service. Through contracts with individual base commands, AAFES offers commercial brands such as Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell and Subway.

In addition, AAFES has for more than a decade worked to develop its own line of brands. These include Primo's Italian concept, Primo's Express and Sports USA, formerly known as The Sports Dome.

The MWR division for the Navy Personnel Command has its own agreements with a number of fast-food chains. For example, the Navy has created a partnership with A&W, which opened its first restaurant on a Navy base last year at NAS Pensacola, Fla. In addition, an A&W All American Food snack bar is located at the base's Stars & Strikes Bowling Center.

The Navy also has franchises or licensing agreements with Little Caesars, Colombo, Java Coast, Steak Escape, Seattle's Best Coffee, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell and McDonald's, among others.

"Navy MWR is taking advantage of these brands to improve the quality of the products and services we offer to our customers," says Bill Lutsch, marketing program manager for Navy MWR. "Our personnel want the same choices on base that civilians get off base."

The Army's MWR division, in competition with AAFES, has formed a Branded Theme Restaurants division and created some concepts of its own. The division was formed five years ago to try to increase the amount of money spent on base at MWR activities.

Among the resulting concepts is Mulligan's. It was designed to serve as a small eatery at base golf courses. Five Mulligan's have opened at Army installations since the concept was developed last year. The most recent was last month at Fort Shafter, Mo.

At Fort McPherson, Ga., Mulligan's shares space with another Army concept at The Golfer's Club. Reggie's Beverage Co. offers casual, full-service dining while Mulligan's sells sandwiches and other grab-and-go foods. According to Michael Wooditch, chief of the operations division at McPherson, the base command wanted Reggie's to be located at The Golfer's Club to attract non-golfers and families, "in order to keep the entire community connected with the facility."