Dr. Patrick Oldenburgh Jr.Chief Human Resources Officer, Army & Air Force Exchange Service

Dr. Patrick Oldenburgh Jr. Profile

Chief Human Resources Officer

Print Biography

Dr. Patrick Oldenburgh Jr., is an Executive Vice President and the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange), at its headquarters in Dallas.

The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense. Established in 1895, the Exchange is the 54th largest retail organization in the U.S. With annual revenues of $8.5 billion, the Exchange employs approximately 29,000 associates, including military personnel.

In the last 10 years, the Exchange benefit has provided $3.5 billion in earnings for critical military Quality-of-Life programs such as outfitting more than 600,000 Warfighters at cost annually, providing school meal support for Department of Defense Education Activity facilities overseas and delivering needed services to locations impacted by natural disasters.

Oldenburgh’s position is commensurate in rank to a member of the Senior Executive Service. Oldenburgh is responsible for leading and implementing Human Resources strategies supporting business initiatives on a global scale. He is also the Executive Champion for People Respecting Individuality, Diversity and Equality (PRIDE), the Exchange’s LGBTQIA+ Special Emphasis Program.

The Exchange operates more than 5,000 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 more than 30 countries. Additionally, the Exchange Credit Program manages a $2.2 billion credit card receivables portfolio.

To support 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 10 brand licenses from U.S. consumer goods companies, including Wonder Bread, Krispy Kreme and Culligan.

The Exchange recruits, hires, promotes and retains a diverse and inclusive workforce. A major employer of Veterans and military spouses, the Exchange has hired more than 1,900 Wounded Warriors since 2010 and more than 57,000 Veterans and military spouses since 2013.

Oldenburgh was born in Burlington, Vermont. He earned his Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. He also holds a Master of Arts in Human Resources Management and Human Resource Development from Webster University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from Cameron University. Oldenburgh is a Society for Human Resource Management member and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resource Management (SPHR) certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute. He also holds Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) certification from the Human Capital Institute and Change Management certification from Cornell University.

Oldenburgh began his Exchange management career as a Learning Facilitator at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Since then, he has held a variety of Exchange positions, including Human Resources Manager at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado and Fort Bliss, Texas. In 2004, he was assigned to Exchange headquarters as a Career and Contingency Operations Manager. He was then reassigned in 2008 as a Human Resources Manager in Contingency Operations, United Kingdom and Germany. He returned to Exchange headquarters in 2011 as Chief, Organizational Systems and Support, later becoming Chief, Employee Relations, Europe Region, in 2015.

Oldenburgh assumed the position of Vice President, Human Resources-Policy, in 2016, becoming Vice President, Human Resources-Operations the following year. He was named to his current position in August 2020. He has also deployed to Kuwait for Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.

Oldenburgh’s performance over his career has earned him one Extraordinary Achievement Award, seven Thanks Awards, one Superior Accomplishment Award, four Excellence Awards and one Occupational Safety and Health Administration Achievement Award.

Back to top