The Defense Department is testing an expansion of commissary shopping privileges to its civilian employees at 16 Defense Commissary Agency stores in the United States under a pilot program that started Dec. 5, 2024. (Defense Commissary Agency)
Defense Department civilian employees at more than a dozen locations in the United States can shop at their base commissary for about four months under a pilot program that began this week.
Sixteen stores in seven states, from Alaska to Virginia, opened their doors starting Thursday to DOD appropriated-fund and nonappropriated-fund employees, the Defense Commissary Agency said in a statement the same day.
Family members of DOD civilian employees and former or retired DOD civilian employees are not included in the pilot, according to the statement.
During the 120-day trial, DOD civilian employees won’t be able to purchase tobacco or alcohol or use the commissary Click2Go online ordering service.
The agency is testing the feasibility of expanding commissary access to DOD civilians at all stateside stores. The change is expected to increase sales and allow the agency to pass on more savings to patrons worldwide, DECA said in the statement.
The Pentagon directed DECA to keep tabs on the effects of increased patronage and report those findings. Stores were selected based on several factors, including store size, capacity for more patrons and demographic range.
The pilot program locations are:
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 Support Facility 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 Shipyard (Portsmouth).
DECA operates 235 stores on military installations worldwide, serving about 8.3 million households in 13 countries and two U.S. territories, according to a report to Congress last month.
The agency strives to provide savings of over 25% compared with civilian marketplaces, even while tacking on a 5% surcharge to pay for modernizing and maintaining its facilities, according to the congressional report.
In 2022, a government watchdog agency found that DECA couldn’t assure customers that it was meeting its target savings rate, particularly in the continental U.S.
The Government Accountability Office also noted in the same report that DECA’s sales of groceries and other goods have fallen by more than $1 billion in the past the past six years.
Overseas commissary privileges are covered by agreements with host nations. Military exchange stores expanded shopping privileges to DOD and Coast Guard civilian employees in the United States and its territories and possessions in 2021.
