Louisiana retiree wins AAFES 'Trip of a Lifetime' Published May 12, 2010 By Stephen Hoffmann 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Kenneth and Patti Geistfeld of Hammond, La., are winners of a $10,000 vacation to anyplace in the world sponsored by Otis Technology. Mr. Geistfeld, a retired Navy petty officer, and Mrs. Geistfeld, a retired Coast Guard chief petty officer, entered the Army and Air Force Exchange Service contest at the Keesler exchange. When Mrs. Geistfeld got the call from her husband informing her that they'd won the contest, she had just begun her day at work. "I was just so excited. I had to leave," Mrs. Geistfeld recalled. The Geistfelds met while stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and after 31 years of marriage had only been on two vacations. Their most recent occurred at the turn of the last century, a Disney cruise in the winter of 1999. Their honeymoon was a weekend camping trip to Norfolk, Va. They were stationed in Norfolk and returned to work on Monday. Serving in the Navy and Coast Guard, the Geistfelds were well traveled but never in the vacation sense of the word. "Any leave we had was spent in Minnesota or Alabama visiting with family," said Ms. Geistfeld. But when they dropped their entry form in the box at the Keesler exchange last fall, they set their sights on the trip of a lifetime. As it turns out, they picked a lucky spot to enter. Earlier this year, a student won a $5,000 "You Made the Grade" scholarship. Last year, a customer won a hunting trip worth $5,000 and before that, another customer won a new Mini Cooper. Asked where they will spend their next vacation, Mr. Geistfeld replied, "Somewhere in Europe -- Germany first, then somewhere else, then we'll branch out from there."