End is Nigh for NAAFI After 92 Years 31.05.13
20The end is nigh for the NAAFI according to the organisation's Chairman and Chief Executive.
It seems 92 years after it was formed, the market for the goods and services NAAFI provides for British troops no longer makes economic sense.
Speaking on a visit to the Falklands, NAAFI Chief Executive Reg Curtis was asked whether his organisation will be there until the end of operations in Afghanistan and Germany.
He told BFBS: "The straight answer is absolutely yes and people in Germany would have already seen us doing that as garrisons close. First in, last out is our mantra.
"I was out in Helmand a couple of weeks ago and I think our services are doing a fantastic job. They know full well they won't have a full time job in 18 months time and actually the same is true for everybody in the NAAFI. At a certain point of time, when Germany finally rebases back to the UK, NAAFI will actually cease to exist as an organisation and our people won't have jobs.
"But that's not what they're focused on and I have great delight as their Chief Executive that all of our staff are focused on providing the best service that they can and take huge pride in being the best right up until the last."
NAAFI was created by the British government in 1921 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families.
At its peak at the start of World War Two, NAAFI had 110,000 employees.
NAAFI currently operates in Afghanistan, Brunei, Germany, Gibraltar, Northern Ireland, and the Falklands, as well as at sea.
Chairman Sir Ian Prosser told BFBS the draw-down in Germany means they're having to give the future careful thought.
"There will clearly be some places where it is important for the forces to be supported, like the Falklands, the South Atlantic, like Gibraltar, like Northern Ireland. How we cope with that is something we obviously paying a lot of attention to at the moment."