Here’s how much you’re saving in military commissaries January 26 Socially-distanced, masked shoppers wait to pay for their groceries April 16, 2020, inside the commissary at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. (Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman/Air Force) After a couple of years of increases, commissary savings slipped in U.S. stores in 2020, according to results from the most recent commissary savings report. Savings in U.S. commissaries decreased by 1.2 points down to 21.1 percent in 2020 from the 22.3 percent savings calculated in 2019. Commissary officials compare prices in each geographic area to determine how much, on average, a commissary shopper could expect to save on grocery purchases compared with local commercial grocers in that area outside the gate.
DoD drops plan to give exchange shopping benefits to more than a half million DoD civilians DoD civilians won t be allowed to shop in exchanges in U.S., for now. (AAFES) A proposal to give military exchange shopping privileges to more than a half million Department of Defense civilians is dead, according to defense officials. “DoD is not pursuing military exchange access for DoD civilian employees at this time,” said DoD spokeswoman Lisa Lawrence, in response to a question from Military Times. She had no comment about why the proposal has been dropped. This is a reversal in direction for DoD since October, when an official said the proposal to give exchange shopping privileges to DoD civilians was working its way through the final stages of the approval process.
Addressing the virtual American Logistics Association conference on Oct. 22, Berry Patrick, an official with the Pentagon s MWR and NAF Policy Office, said the policy change was in the works and awaiting approval by the DoD.
The benefit would have given shopping privileges at military exchanges to civilian DoD employees and those who work in non-appropriated funds jobs, according to Patrick. He added that the extension of benefits to this group could increase sales at exchanges by $287 million a year income that would increase the amount of funds supporting the military services MWR programs by $48 million.
During the pandemic, the DoD gave base commanders temporary authority to extend commissary and exchange privileges to civilians and contract employees who were considered mission critical.