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Military Families’ Commissary Benefit Threatened

Military families consistently tell us how much they value their Commissary and Exchange privileges. Families rely on the savings they get by shopping at the Commissary, and for families stationed overseas, the Commissary allows them to enjoy products from home that would otherwise be unavailable or unaffordable. The National Military Family Association has long worked to promote and protect these critical benefits to military families’ quality of life.

Knowing how important the Commissary is to military families, we are increasingly concerned about potential threats to this benefit. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has recently written a report about Department of Defense spending, The Department of Everything, which specifically targets the subsidy provided to the Commissaries by the federal government. This subsidy, about $1.5 billion per year, is used to pay for Commissary operating costs. This in turn allows the Commissary to keep its prices low. Eliminating the subsidy, as Senator Coburn proposes, would force the Commissary to raise its prices to make up for the loss of federal funds. Currently, military families who shop at the Commissary save more than 30% on their groceries. Without the Commissary subsidy, families will see those bills go up.

Commissaries will also potentially be affected by sequestration. Unless the President and Congress are able to reach a debt reduction agreement by January 2, government funds provided to the Commissary will drop by 9.4%. In order to absorb this loss of funding, Commissaries may be forced to reduce hours, cut services, or lay off some employees. This is especially concerning because so many Commissary employees are affiliated with the military, either family of active duty members or military retirees, retiree spouses or military veterans. Many employees would see work hours and, therefore, incomes cut.

We urge you to let Congress know how much you value your Commissary!

Tell us what you think below:

Comment: Commissary is a wonderful place our military families utilize. It seems like every good thing the politicians want to go after. HANDS off all military benefits. We've sacrifice enough with our love ones.
Submitted by: Summer on December 20, 2012

Comment: service members are the ones doing our country the real service not politicians who are actively robbing the american people of all our freedoms and rights, bankrupting us untill our children will wake up homeless on this continent our fathers conquered
Submitted by: nathan n on December 19, 2012

Comment: It's a shame that with all the costly benefits members of congress enjoy, the few benefits of our service members are the ones that are always in jeopardy. Priorities need to be set and our military members and their families need to be properly cared for so that those who put their lives on the line to protect our country can do so without worrying about the difficulties of meeting their families needs.
Submitted by: Cynthia M on December 18, 2012

Comment: Hasn't this country put our men through enough?! The President should figure out a way to cut funds elsewhere. Stop taking from those that protect our freedom!
Submitted by: DevilPup33 on December 15, 2012

Comment: Even retirees use the commissary...When you retire you only get that base pay not all the extras so using the commissary is a way to strecth that dollar. We drive over 3 hours just to go and stock up to help the budget last longer. don't take another benefit from us.
Submitted by: Sarge on December 15, 2012

Comment: This is crazy! Why keep trying to cut things that benefits our military families? Please leave the Commisary alone and find other things to cut.
Submitted by: on December 14, 2012

Comment: This is horrible. Our families sacrifice so much , our loved ones put their lives on the line and benefits continue to be threaten. I strongly urge for this to be carefully reconsidered .....
Submitted by: Cbr on December 12, 2012

Comment: let us keep our commissary!
Submitted by: allen on December 12, 2012

Comment: You want our families to put their lives on the line to defend this nation, pay wages that are so low our youngest families are eligible for food stamps and you send TRILLIONS of our dollars to other countries and you want to take our Commissary's away. SHAME ON YOU ALL! You can't get along, can't make a budget and stick to it and you are the saddest leadership this country has ever seen. Grow up, get the budget done, stop bickering like children, stop sending our tax dollars to other country's till you fix ours and act like the leaders you are suppose to be!
Submitted by: on December 11, 2012

Comment: Please be considerate when looking at our commissary benefit. There are bases across the country that without a commissary service members and dependants would be driving for 30 min or more to buy groceries at higher prices. I ask that you keep our commissary benefits and cut spending where everyone overlooks the most, at the top. With the wages our service members get, cutting the commissary budget causing service members to drive further using more gas to get there could mean more families applying for food stamps and other state and federal assistance. Thank-you for your consideration in this matter.
Submitted by: Champion on December 8, 2012

Comment: wow, it seems each year, we are being threatened to have a fee raised or a benifit taken away. Military families, both Active and Retired , need to have some security in knowing that they will not be left to suffer without these things. We already know that soldiers are not paid near what they should be. I know we are now struggling as Retirees , and although the commissary for me is farther away than i would like...I love having the priviledge to shop there !! Please do not take away what so many of our families have earned
Submitted by: DKW on December 8, 2012

Comment: I need the commissary. I will driver an hour and half because that is how much of a blessing it is to be able to save money to feed my family..
Submitted by: Lauren on December 7, 2012

Comment: The Commissary for our family is worth driving 45 minutes each way once 2 times month to stock up on groceries. The value we get for the limited budget we have helps the kids get feed and survive.
Submitted by: Busy Army Spouse on December 7, 2012

Comment: Commissary privileges are a valued asset to the military way of life. I am outraged that any Senator would even think about eliminating the subsidy which allows our Commissaries to keep their prices low. We need the subsidy and without it, it would make for a harship on many of our lower enlisted soldiers and their Families.
Submitted by: on December 7, 2012

Comment: Our family of 4 is solely supported by our E-6 enlisted service member and we barely get by as it is. We count on our commissary as one of the benefits of being a military family. Closing our commissary (NCBC Gulfport) would be fiscally devastating to our family. Use of the Commissary is supposed to be a benefit to compensate for a service member and military families whose income is less than $50,000!
Submitted by: Kelly Moore on December 7, 2012

Comment: Please, I urge you to Support our military and our military benefits which are so important to the moral and welfare of all those who serve and go into harms way. Veterans depend on their military benefits and have fought to defend our country. Our military deserve the very best as they give their very best to defend our country and the future of our country for our children and grandchildren.
Submitted by: on December 6, 2012

Comment: Senator Coburn seems to have overlooked a major benefit of the commissaries. While this report has focused solely on the monetary portion spending, it has been forgotten that as a large employer, a good number of their employees are military spouses, retirees and teenagers. Military spouses needing jobs and having difficulty finding jobs due to frequent moves, instability and discrimination are in need of services like this! The commissaries also help some retirees make ends meet, and help a teenager get their first job. Raising a service member's pay will not alieviate these issues! May I also point out that while big box stores may be able to compete with the commissaries' prices- they are limited in their selection and in some cases are not only NOT a good deal, they are NOT a good deal on things we do not need!
Submitted by: KAM on December 6, 2012

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Military Families’ Commissary Benefit Threatened

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