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1 1 (December 30, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/goveaqy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: h $arvkzo ~d ~ ~h k~k~ m Updated December 30,2020 Defense Primer: Military Commissaries and Exchanges The Department of Defense (DOD) offers certain quality- of-life benefits to military members, their families, and retirees. The general purpose of these benefits is to attract, retain, and support morale and readiness for military servicemembers. One of these benefits is worldwide access to grocery and retail stores-called commissaries and exchanges-typically located on military installations. Commis s aries provides ubsidized groceries and household goods to eligible patrons. Exchanges sellgoods forprofit, similar to a department or specialty store, butuse some of this profit to fund various Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) activities (See Table 1). Organization and Management Defense Commissaries The modern commissary systembegan in 1867. Each of the services operated its own commissaries and exchanges until 1991, when the commissary systemwas consolidatedunder the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA). According to the DeCA Annual Report for FY2020, as of September 30, 2020, DeCA operated 236 stores onmilitary installations worldwide, including in 13 countries and 2 U.S. territories; and employ a workforce of over 12,000 civilian full-time equivalents (FTEs). As a defense agency, DeCA reports to the Office of the Secretary of Defense andhas a board of directors composed of members fromeach of the military services. DeCA provides subsidized groceries and household goods at cost plus a 5% surcharge. This surcharge is used to fund new commissary construction and store-levelrefurbishment, maintenance, and equipment. Table 1. Breakdown of Commissaries vs. Exchanges Commissaries Exchanges Funding Appropriated Sales of goods, non- Funds (APF) appropriated (NAF) Management DeCA Board of Board of Directors for Directors each service exchange system Products Grocery and Clothing, shoes, uniforms, household furniture, computers, goods alcohol, cigarettes, jewelry Online Sales Limited* Yes** and Delivery Sources: About DeCA and FAQs, at https://www.commissaries.com/; and Exchange Quick Facts, at https://www.aafes.com/about-exchange/exchange-quick-facts/. Notes: *1n 201 3, DeCAstarted a pilot program offering online ordering with curbside pickup, known as Click2Go. The pilot ended on June 1, 2019. Click2Go is nowavailable at Fort Belvoir, Fort Eustis, Fort Lee, Fort Polk, joint Base Charleston, Oceana NAS, Offutt AFB, Quantico, and McGu ire. Additional Click2Go locations are expected in the future. At th is time, DeCA offers picku p and delivery of online orders at Fort Eustis, Fort Belvoir, Fort Lee, joint Base Charleston, and Oceana. **Online exchange delivery excludes cigarettesalcoholand military uniforms. See https://www.commissaries.com/sh opping/clic k-2-go. Military Exchanges DOD maintains an exchange systemthat includes the Army and Air Force Exchange System(AAFES), the Navy Exchange (NEX), and the MarineCorps Exchange (MCX). Each service has its own board of directors to align operations and services. These exchanges providemilitary installations with goods and services similar to department stores and are often located near commis s aries. Some exchanges alsooperategas stations, mini-marts, food courts, barber andbeauty shops, andliquor stores, some of which are operatedby outside or contract vendors. Accordingto AAFES, 20% to 30% of its foot traffic, representing $1 billion in sales, is attributable to proximity to commis saries. DOD regulates what items may be sold at commissaries andexchanges to comply with statutory requirements (10 U.S.C. §2483) and to avoid direct competition with one another. Authorized Patrons Authorized patrons of military commissaries and exchanges include active duty, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, Medal of Honor recipients, 100% disabled veterans, and authorized family members. DOD regulations also allowlimited accessto overseas commissaries to DOD and non-DOD federal civilian employees and contractors. Since November 11, 2017, DOD has allowed limited online exchange shopping privileges to allhonorably discharged veterans. Purchases of uniforms, alcohol and tobacco products are excluded. Veterans may verify eligibility at https://www.shopmyexchange.con/veterans. Section 621 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2019 (P.L. I 15-232) extended eligibility for commissary and morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) privileges to certain veterans and veterans' caregivers effective January I, On January 1, 2020, more than 4million service-connected dis abled veterans, Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war, and their primary caregivers were granted eligibility to full commissary access and certain MWR activities in the FY2019 NDAA. See Defense Commissary System, in CRS Report R45343, FY2019NationalDefense AuthorizationAct: Selected Military PersonnelIssues. Funding Commissaries: Appropriated Funds DeCA is an appropriated fund activity (APF). Congress funds commissary operations with an annual appropriation https:H/ct sr ports~corigre~

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