AAFES receives special award Published Jan. 14, 2004 NEW YORK (AFPN) -- The Army and Air Force Exchange Service received the American Spirit Award during the National Retail Federation's annual convention recently.AAFES was selected for the 2004 honor because of its support of U.S. servicemembers fighting terrorism. The award is designed to recognize exceptional achievement and is presented only when circumstances dictate. Former recipients include former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George Bush.Maj. Gen. Kathryn Frost, AAFES commander, accepted the award on behalf of the AAFES workforce, a group she described as committed to serving soldiers and airmen wherever they go."They put their lives on hold... leave family, comfort and safety behind, expose themselves to danger... all to take care of American troops,” she said. “They really deserve this award.” During her acceptance remarks, General Frost said that it was during a trip to Kuwait at the peak of the troop build-up before the invasion of Iraq that she came to realize a benefit AAFES provided deployed troops that she hadn't thought of before.“That's when I realized that in locations like this, soldiers and airmen don't always visit a PX because they need to ‘buy’ something," she said. "They often come to the PX because they are surrounded by things that are familiar: U.S. products, well-known labels, popular brands and AAFES employees. In remote and hostile regions, sometimes a visit to a PX is simply a connection to home.”