Chief Master Sgt. Luis Reyes Army & Air Force Exchange Service Senior Enlisted Advisor
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Luis Reyes is the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange) headquartered in Dallas.
The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense. Established in 1895, the Exchange is the 61st largest retail organization in the U.S. With annual revenues of $8.6 billion, the Exchange employs approximately 35,000 associates, including military personnel. In 2019, the Exchange produced $369 million in earnings, all reinvested into the military community.
Chief Reyes serves as the focal point for communications between Exchange leadership and Army and Air Force active duty, Guard, Reserve, family members, Veterans and retired patrons. He travels to Army and Air Force installations worldwide to present updates on Exchange activities and provides feedback on issues affecting customers.
The Exchange operates 4,000 facilities, including department and convenience stores, restaurants, malls, movie theaters, gas stations and other specialty retail businesses on military installations. The Exchange’s operations span 50 states, four U.S. territories and 32 countries. Additionally, the Exchange Credit Program manages a $2.5 billion credit card receivables portfolio. To support combat readiness and provide foreign-based service members and their families with U.S. products, the Exchange operates bakeries in Europe and Asia and water bottling plants in Europe under six licenses from U.S. consumer goods companies, including Wonder Bread, Krispy Kreme and Culligan.
The Exchange annually provides troops with more than 800,000 combat uniforms and serves more than 2.6 million lunches to Warfighters’ children at Department of Defense Education Activity schools overseas. A major employer of Veterans and military spouses, the Exchange has hired more than 1,600 Wounded Warriors since 2010 and is committed to hiring 50,000 Veterans and military spouses by the end of 2020.
Reyes grew up in Newark, N.J., and joined the U.S. Air Force in September 1997, completing basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Chief Reyes holds an associate’s degree in Information Systems Management from Community College of the Air Force. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management and a Master of Science in Information Technology from Grantham University, Kansas.
Reyes began his military career as a communication computer systems operator at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. He deployed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as a tactical telephone switch journeyman in support of Operation Southern Watch. He also served at Camp Humphreys, Korea, and Aviano Air Base, Italy. He was the Communication Center Specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and then the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Help Desk Operations at Morón Air Base, Spain. At Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, he served as Operations NCOIC before assuming the role of Flight Chief Current Operations, Squadron Superintendent and Superintendent, Plans and Implementation. At Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Hawaii, he served as Operations Superintendent and the Squadron Superintendent for the 690th Cyberspace Operations Squadron. In 2014, Reyes was named Senior NCO of the Year for the 24th Air Force. Reyes assumed his current position at the Exchange in December 2016.
Reyes' awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal with silver and bronze oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal, and the NATO Medal.
(Current as of July 2020)