The story begins in 1999 when Volker Brunke was serving in the German Air Force as an upcoming member of the military diplomacy and was tasked to be a part of a classified seven-nation conglomerate of intelligence. It was during this assignment that he met his future wife, Margarita, who was, at the time, a U.S. Army intelligence soldier.

"Not that we were sent to spy on each other, but let's say we were living the life of Mr. and Mrs. Smith," he joked. "So we decided to work during the daytime hours and get to know one and other outside of work. Of course, eventually we had to inform our countries of our plans to marry and ... it presented a conflict of interest."

Brunke, who was a senior master sergeant with 14 years in, requested a voluntary retirement from his duties and left not only the German Air Force, but also the country. He immigrated to the U.S. and began a career as an IT professional while the U.S. Army Reserve reactivated his wife.

Margarita went on to serve a total of 30 years in the Army and had an interesting career that included working on Air Force One and helping to establish the Warrior Transition Battalion on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. She was medically separated from duty in 2010 as a first sergeant.

Coincidentally, at that same time, Brunke was also craving a change.

"I'd had it with the world, especially the corporate world, and I wanted to do something different," he said. "So I took my retirement payout and invested it into my own business."

Brunke, who describes himself as a "gearhead" and had his own small collection of restored and mint-condition cars and motorcycles, opened the doors at Clean 'n Chrome, a high-end auto detailing business this past March. He was able to hire two "young guns" that lived in his neighborhood and, as he said, were available through divine intervention after having been recently released from working on the Strykers at JBLM.

"I believe that everything has to be done to the highest level - showroom level - and that might be why you could immediately mistake the shop for an automotive repair facility rather than a common detailing business," Brunke explained.

In just a few short months, the business has grown and already received rave reviews from customers who can't believe their cars could look so good.

"My aim is to raise the bar on quality of service while at the same time, caring for some of the most precious vehicles in automotive history," he stated. "For me, profit is when someone has a smile on their face and is satisfied with a job well done."

In addition to work at the shop, Brunke and his wife work with many charities, to include Rainier Therapeutic Riding, which works with wounded warriors, and Vets4Veterans, which works to pair veterans with service dogs.

"Margarita is very much engaged in helping her fellow veterans," Brunke said. "We both feel it is important. I spent seven years apart from her (due to deployments) and it wasn't easy, but freedom isn't free and we'd go through it again if we had to. We want to continue to pay our dues to those that serve."

As such, military ID cardholders and veterans receive a discount on services at their shop.

Clean 'n Chrome is located at 1306A Fones Rd. SE in Olympia. It's open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. For more information or to book an appointment, call (888) 978-4585 or visit clean-n-chrome.com.