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DALLAS – The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is celebrating service members and Veterans by giving away collectible POGs at Exchange locations worldwide for Salute to Service Month.
For Chief Master Sgt. Douglas Storseth, Air Force District of Washington, Cyberspace and Information Technology Directorate, senior enlisted leader, a handful of cardboard coins tells a 23-year story of service and nostalgia.
When the Army & Air Force Exchange Service announced the return of its collectible POGs for November’s Salute to Service month, he saw more than a giveaway—he saw a reminder of his earliest days in uniform. And he drove to PXs and BXs across the Beltway for a little piece of nostalgia.
“I noticed the Exchange’s social media campaign and ads regarding the November Veteran appreciation events, kicking off with the collectible POGs on Nov. 1,” said Storseth, who serves at Joint Base Andrews. “POGs have a special meaning for me. I kept quite a few since my first deployment and successive deployments as they were something unique to collect.”
Throughout November, the Exchange is celebrating service members and Veterans with in-store giveaways. Active-duty service members and Veterans with in-store shopping privileges can pick up Vet for Life patches on Nov. 22 and POGs again on Nov. 29. A list of participating PXs and BXs can be found here (https://publicaffairs-sme.com/Community/%20salute%20to%20service/).
Storseth’s passion for POGs was exactly what the Exchange was hoping for during its inaugural Salute to Service Month.
“Salute to Service month is the Exchange’s opportunity to honor the selfless dedication of those who serve and have served,” said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Rich Martinez, the Exchange’s senior enlisted advisor. “From collectible POGs to community events, the Exchange is honored to celebrate Veterans and reaffirm the 130-year-old mission to serve those who serve.”
Developed in 2001 to replace heavy metal coins in deployed environments, POGs, which are lightweight cardboard disks, became the standard form of change at PXs and BXs in Iraq and Afghanistan. While practical, they also became sentimental keepsakes for many who served in the contingency theater.
“I vividly recall Operation Iraqi Freedom kicking off with the ‘Shock and Awe’ campaign wondering, not if, but when would I find myself downrange,” Storseth said. “A year later, I set boots on ground at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in what would be the first deployment of my career.”
That deployment would mark the beginning of many lasting memories—and a few small comforts that broke up the daily grind.
“A daily bit of R&R was going to the Exchange,” he said. “With no coinage downrange, everyone had AAFES POGs on-hand and alongside cash, [that] was the currency used daily.”
Nearly two decades later, those memories resurfaced when he and his wife set out to collect the special-edition POGs released by the Exchange this month. Their hunt took them across several installations in the National Capital Region, including Joint Base Andrews, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Fort Belvoir and Fort Myer.
“My wife joined in, and we visited four Exchange locations around the D.C. area—some more than once,” he said. “We ended up with 40 total, a mix of Army and Air Force designs.”
For CMSgt Storseth, the hunt was a reminder of how the Exchange has supported military life at every stop in his career.
“Having served now going on 23 years, [more than] 10 years OCONUS, numerous deployments, and too many bases to count, AAFES has been there throughout my journeys,” he said. “When feeling homesick abroad, it’s a place to go and feel like I am back in the USA, if only for a moment.”
Social-media-friendly version: A 23-year Airman turned a Salute to Service giveaway into a nostalgia hunt across PXs and BXs. From cardboard POGs to memories of deployments, he’s collecting more than souvenirs as he relives the moments that shaped his career. Read more: https://wp.me/p9Q7PG-36L
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Since 1895, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service has gone where Soldiers, Airmen, Guardians and their families go to improve the quality of their lives by providing valued goods and services at exclusive military pricing. The Exchange is the 51st-largest retailer in the United States. 100% of Exchange earnings support military communities. In the last 10 years, your Exchange benefit has provided $15 billion in earnings that support the military community, including through contributions to critical military Quality-of-Life programs. The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense and is directed by a Board of Directors. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our website at http://www.shopmyexchange.com or follow us on X at https://x.com/shopmyexchange.
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Media Notes:
For more information or to schedule an interview with an Exchange representative please contact SSgt Marco Gomez at 214-312-3830 or gomezmarco@aafes.com.
Follow the Exchange:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/shopmyexchange
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shopmyexchange
Instagram: @shopmyexchange
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2025 14:33 |
| Story ID: | 551402 |
| Location: | DALLAS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, For Air Force Chief, Exchange’s POG Giveaway Brings Back Memories of Deployment, by SSgt Marco Gomez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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