NAAFI
NAAFI (pronunciation 'na: fi :; short for Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes ; German: facilities of the Navy, Army and Air Force ) is an organization founded by the British government that serves members of the British armed forces and their families at home and abroad Offers recreational, sport and leisure facilities abroad and supplies them with everyday goods.
NAAFI operates clubs , bars , restaurants , cafes , shops, supermarkets and other facilities such as laundries at most British military bases, as well as canteens on larger Navy ships .
Officers who have their own messaging facilities are expected to only visit NAAFI clubs and bars on official occasions so as not to disturb the privacy of soldiers.
NAAFI employees on ships belong to the Naval Canteen Service (NCS). They are in uniform but are civilians. You can join the Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI), which operates NAAFI facilities in war zones.
The purpose of the organization is not aimed at generating financial surpluses.
history
NAAFI was founded in 1921 by the British government. In its first year of existence, it had a turnover of 190 million pounds. In 1928 it was represented in Bermuda, Ceylon, Iraq, Gibraltar, Malta, China, Jamaica and the Middle East.
With the beginning of the Second World War , the number of facilities rose from 1,350 to almost 10,000, including 800 canteens on ships and 900 mobile canteens. The number of employees increased from 8,000 to 110,000. 24 million cigarettes were sold every day. In 1942, NAAFI employed 4,000 artists to entertain the troops.
After the end of the war, the number of facilities quickly fell. The number of employees almost halved to 65,000 in 1947. In 1955, NAAFI relocated its international headquarters to the JHQ Rheindahlen near Mönchengladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the British Rhine Army was based. In 1982, NAAFI served 25,000 people around the clock during the Falklands War ; In 1990 she was used in the Gulf War .
In 2006, NAAFI cared for military personnel and their families in the UK, Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus, Iraq, the Falkland Islands, Bosnia, Kosovo, Ascension Island , Belize , Brunei , Kenya, Gibraltar and Afghanistan. It had over 4,000 employees and sales of £ 226 million in twelve currencies.
Web links
- NAAFI website (English)