![\"\"](\"https:\/\/publicaffairs-sme.com\/pressrelease\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/03\/Tanya-England-300x229.jpg\" "\\"Tanya")
<\/a><\/p>\nDALLAS \u2013 <\/strong>The job outlook for military spouses continues to trend in the right direction at Army & Air Force Exchange Service facilities. Fresh off Military Spouse Magazine\u2019s<\/em> selection of the Exchange as one of the \u201cbest places for military spouses to work\u201d for hiring in 2010, the Exchange is reporting even stronger numbers for 2011. \u00a0<\/p>\n In the past 24 months, the Exchange hired 11,165 military spouses (5,032 in 2010 and 6,133 in 2011), with 2,308 receiving promotions and 131 deploying in support of troops in contingency locations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Exchange offers programs such as Military Spouse Preference and Spouse Continuity that assist transitioning military spouses, often allowing them to retain their category and benefits,\u201d said the Exchange\u2019s Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Susan Simone. \u201cThese programs result in a win-win situation that allows the Exchange to retain a valuable associate while allowing the military spouse to build a career within the Exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n One such employee is Tayna L. England<\/a>, whose husband James is a Sgt. 1st Class in the U.S. Army. Throughout most of her husband\u2019s career, England has worked for the Exchange.<\/p>\n \u201cI started my career with the Exchange in Mannheim, Germany in September 1999 as an Accounting Assistant. I found out how truly awesome my Exchange family was when my mother was involved in a car accident in May 2000, and my daughters and I had to leave Germany and move back home to Navarre, Florida, to care for her and my father.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe one assurance I had moving back home was that I knew I would have a job and be able to provide for my family without virtually any break in service!\u00a0Once I arrived at Eglin AFB, I was fortunate enough to interview for three positions and easily went back to work within a few weeks,\u201d England said.<\/p>\n England has enjoyed working in a variety of specialties with her latest assignment being in Human Resources.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the opportunity to work in HR has shown me how supportive the Exchange is and the opportunities we have to assist our military community!\u00a0At Patrick AFB, for example, we attend the New Comers Briefing and provide information regarding military spouse preference, the Spouse Employment Continuity Program and Non-Local\/Non-PCS transfers to our newly arriving military community.\u00a0As HR Partners, we contact our sister offices when we receive word our employees are either retiring or PCS-ing so that we can hopefully assist our military families and keep our employees \u2018in the family,\u2019\u201d said England.<\/p>\n England feels like her fellow associates at the Exchange are more like family than coworkers.<\/p>\n England said, \u201cMy Exchange family once again stepped up and showed how truly awesome they were by helping support me in various ways when my husband deployed (since 2002 Jim has deployed five times \u2013 one year each time).\u00a0 My co-workers have always been there to support my daughters and myself by inviting us to dinners, going shopping, attending school functions and games, going to the movies, going to church and by just being there for morale support and guidance.\u00a0 The Exchange not only \u2018serves the best customers in the world,\u2019 we also \u2018serve the best associates in the world.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0I couldn\u2019t imagine working anywhere else!\u201d<\/p>\n Stories like this, combined with a commitment to recruit, hire, train and retain military spouses, make the Exchange the employer of choice for the husbands and wives of Soldiers and Airmen, wherever they are called to serve. \u00a0<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is a joint command and is directed by a Board of Directors which is responsible to the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force through the Service Chiefs of Staff. The Exchange has the dual mission of providing authorized patrons with articles of merchandise and services and generating non-appropriated fund earnings as a supplemental source of funding for military Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (FMWR) programs. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our Web site at http:\/\/www.shopmyexchange.com<\/span>.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n Media Notes:\u00a0 <\/strong>For more information or to schedule an interview with an Exchange representative please contact Chris Ward, 214-312-2714 or wardchr@aafes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t