From Our Military Correspondent Apart from the fact that it runs the service canteens few people seem to know much about this organisation, and many share the misapprehension of Captain Howard Kealy, K.C., that it is a private company run for profit.
In an interview published lately by the Ovrtiosio HERALD, Captain Kealy was reported as being mildly surprised that a private organisation should have a virtual monopoly of canteen work.
NOT TRADING FOR PROFIT Actually the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes is a corporation registered under the Companies Acts as an association trading not for profit; it has no shareholders and pays no dividends.
The control is vested in a council and in a board of management. The council, which controls the policy of the corporation, is composed of twelve members of the Services, four from each Service, who are nominated by the Service departments.
The board of management, which is the executive body, consists of one Naval, one Army and one Royal Air Force representative, and of three civilian members with business experience, all of whom are appointed by the Service departments.
The surplus funds or " profits" of N.A.A.F.I. are utilised in accordance with King's Regulations in contributions to Service Institute funds by way of rebate on purchases made from N.A.A.F.T. by the various units, or are expended for the benefit of the personnel of the Services as a whole.
AND IN "FORWARD AREAS" The activities of N.A.A.F.I. in France embrace the conduct of canteens and stores at bases and on the lines of communication, and these activities are being extended to the forward areas, in accordance with the instructions of the military authorities, as, and when, the necessary facilities become available.
In addition, N.A.A.F.I. is responsible for the suply, conduct and cost of all entertainments provided for the troops in this country and in France, and bears the cost of the free issues of sports gear and newspapers to the B.E.F.
By 1939 the N.A.A.F.I.'s turnover was £10,000,000 per annum; while the last published accounts showed that £600,000 went back to the Services in bard cash alone.