[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  A TRIBUTE TO PAUL A. FROMM ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE ARMY AND AIR 
                         FORCE EXCHANGE SERVICE

 Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, today I want to congratulate Mr. Paul 
A. Fromm, chief operating officer of the Army and Air Force Exchange 
Service, on the occasion of his retirement from the Army and Air Force 
Exchange Service.
  During the span of his 36-year career, Mr. Fromm worked in nearly 
every area of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service organization, 
from an hourly paid clerk to the highest ranking civilian in a work 
force of 71,000 people. His first job was as a stockroom clerk at 
Columbus Air Force Base, MS. Then he served as stockroom manager, and 
eventually as the retail store manager, preparing him for leadership 
roles for the remainder of his career in the Army and Air Force 
Exchange Service.
  In 1985 Mr. Fromm was selected for his current assignment, one of the 
youngest to achieve this position. His leadership has been marked by a 
commonsense approach to every decision. Paul was committed to focusing 
on the mission of military men and women and their families, wherever 
they were assigned.
  It is often said that in the retail industry, the only constant is 
change. Mr. Fromm realized this and sought to make those changes for 
the ultimate benefit of the men and women of the Armed Forces and their 
families. Under his leadership, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service 
restructured management to a centralized function. He steered the 
organization to focus on what the customer needs, and adapted the 
Exchange Service to that need. His oversight led to information systems 
modernization which set the standard for the rest of the Department of 
Defense resale community. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service is 
considered a role model as a government organization. Essentially, Mr. 
Fromm was reinventing government years before it became popular.
  As Mr. Fromm retires, he leaves knowing that the Army and Air Force 
Exchange Service just completed their year with the highest sales ever 
recorded, which translates to one of the highest dividends ever to the 
Army and Air Force morale, welfare, and recreation organizations. Mr. 
Fromm has touched the lives of every soldier, sailor, airman, and 
marine--active, retired, or reserved--as well as their families. It is 
people like Mr. Fromm who help make the U.S. military quality of life 
programs work, provide tens of thousands of jobs, take a little piece 
of home to soldiers stationed overseas, and ultimately help in keeping 
our Nation strong.
  Mr. President, I ask our colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. 
Fromm on his retirement and to thank him for his dedicated, 
professional, and selfless service to the men and women of the U.S. 
Armed Forces and their families.

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