The next time a JBLM Exchange employee smiles at you, take a moment to say hello - he or she may have just returned from serving your comrades or loved ones in combat.

Charles Griggs is one such person. In fact, the 12-year AAFES employee has only been back stateside for about two weeks. He has voluntarily deployed five times to places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait (once coming home from Kandahar, only to return to Jalalabad within four months).

When asked why he had deployed so frequently, he said quietly, "Because Soldiers need a little taste of home."

While deployed, Griggs worked in the stocking room and retail stores of AAFES, which has 3,100 facilities in 30 countries and 180 main stores that provide quality merchandise and services to armed forces personnel, their families and retirees.

Once, Griggs was held up in a bunker for four hours during a firefight. "It's an experience I'll never forget," he said. "Sometimes they go out and don't come back. It makes you appreciate what you have. I've learned to live for today."

Even though his son Isaiah, 12, didn't want him to leave, he accepted that dad "had to do what I had to do," he said.His wife of 13 years, Traci, never complained either, and Griggs believed that made all the difference.

Family is also what kept AAFES employee Therese Bundang motivated while deployed in 2009-10. "They kept me grounded while I was gone," she said, "and were my saving grace during the six months it took to readjust." Her girls, Leila and Reese, were 7 and 2 when Bundang left for Iraq. The hardest part of deployment came when Reese didn't recognize her mother when she returned.

Bundang was one of only 11 women on base, and the only female to convoy outside the forward operating base (FOB) with Marines.

"I (had) to wear military gear and look just like a Marine," she said. "I had to blend in even though I was only there for TFE (selling AAFES merchandise out of a trailer)."

Troops there hadn't seen a mobile PX since they'd arrived, and one Soldier told Bundang, "Do you have any idea how good this makes us feel right now?" Though he'd worn out his pairs of socks months prior, she believed he was more appreciative of just seeing things that reminded him of home.

AAFES employees receive the same firearms and safety training, debriefings and immunizations, must meet the same height and weight standards and also pass a physical screening - just like any other deploying Soldier.

Like Soldiers, too, Griggs and Bundang remain close to Servicemembers upon redeployment.

"One guy I knew began displaying signs of PTSD," said Bundang. "I reached out to let him know he wasn't alone." The day he prepared to commit suicide, she talked him out of it.

There's currently a long waiting list of AAFES employees wanting to deploy, said Colleen Cushion, AAFES human resources manager. "Most of them call me weekly, anxious for updates," she said.