DOD to pilot expansion of commissary benefit to military civilian employees

The Department of Defense (DOD) will test an expansion of commissary shopping privileges for DOD civilian employees at select Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) stores located in the continental U.S., for 120 days starting Dec. 5.

“We welcome the opportunity to participate in DOD’s pilot to expand commissary shopping privileges to DOD civilian employees at 16 of our stores,” said John E. Hall, DeCA director and chief executive officer.

            All civilian employees (appropriated and non-appropriated) with DOD identification will be authorized to shop at one of the 16 commissaries participating in the piloted program.

            The pilot will test the feasibility of expanding commissary access to DOD civilians at all stateside commissaries. For now, the 16 stores selected for the pilot are at the following locations:

·         Alaska: Eielson Air Force Base

·         California: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and Fort Irwin

·         Georgia: Marine Corps Logistical Base Albany and Robins Air Force Base

·         Maryland: Naval Air Station Patuxent River

·         Oklahoma: Altus Air Force Base

·         Texas: Laughlin Air Force Base

·         Virginia: Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Joint Base Langley-Eustis (Fort Eustis and Langley Air Force Base commissaries), Fort Gregg-Adams, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story (Little Creek Commissary), Naval Base Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana and Norfolk Naval Ship Yard (Portsmouth)

Participating commissaries were based on the following criteria to gather research data:

·         Store Size: A variety of stores were selected ranging from small to large

·         Demographics: An adequate military departmental employee mix while evaluating DeCA’s ability to accommodate the additional patrons

·         Geography: Geographic locations were selected based on their ability to manage the increase in patronage. Certain locations will provide insight to infrastructure requirements based on the levels of DOD civilian population.

            DeCA has been tasked by the DOD to closely monitor any effects of the increased patronage on the pilot stores’ operations and report those findings to DOD. The findings will then assist the Defense Department in determining the feasibility of expanding the benefit to all DOD civilians.

            This authorization does not include benefit access for family members of DOD civilian employees and former or retired DOD civilian employees, the purchase of tobacco or alcohol products and Commissary Click2Go online shopping privileges.