YOKOTA AIR BASE – The Army & Air Force Exchange Service opened its new optical center at Yokota Air Base last month, part of the Department of Defense retailer’s efforts to make life better for Airmen and their families.

The optical center, which is located in the main Exchange, will give Airmen an opportunity to get prescription glasses and contact lenses on the installation with greater convenience.

“Shopping for prescription glasses can be difficult in Japan for most Americans because of the language barrier,” Yokota Exchange General Manager Julia Woods said. “Our optical center is a “one-stop shop” for all their eyewear needs as well as contact lens.”

Col. Patrick Launey, 374th Mission Support Group commander, was the guest of honor during the ribbon-cutting ceremony May 14.

“The new optical center will provide our community with name-brand optical options like Ray-Ban and Oakley at competitive prices,” Launey said. “Airmen and their families can order their glasses using the store’s express service, do some shopping and pick-up their new glasses in about an hour.”

The Exchange continues to bring in new businesses to improve the quality of life at Yokota.

“The Exchange has been a tremendous part of our mission here providing support to our community through the services they provide,” Launey said. “We look forward to more of these type of services opening up in the future to offer more options for our Airmen, families, mission partners and all of Team Yokota.”

The optical center’s hours of operation is 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.