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Savings Coming to the Commissary This October

Julie Provost

Commissary Savings Coming This October

Good news is coming for members of the military, veterans, and anyone who shops at the Commissary. By the middle of October, most Commissaries will have added an extra savings of 3-5%. This is a part of a DoD initiative to bolster the economic security and stability of the military community. 

For the fiscal year 2022, groceries at the Commissary were an average of 22% less than civilian grocery stores. The new goal is 25% as stated in a memorandum that came out in September. 

In the Taking Care of Our Service Members and Families Memorandum, it is stated that “The Department of Defense has a sacred obligation to take care of our Service members and families. Doing so is a national security imperative. Our military families provide the strong foundation for our Force, and we owe them our full support.”

How Does the DoD Plan to Help Military Families?

In this Memorandum, the DoD shows the different ways they plan to help military families. They include:

Securing Affordable Basic Needs

• • In addition to the 4.6% proposed pay increase, they plan to review the proposed BAH for 2023 to ensure that the numbers reflect the unusually dynamic fluctuations in the housing market.
  • They want to fully fund the Commissaries so that they are at 25% savings on civilian stores vs the 22% now. This is where the 3-5% savings is coming from. 
  • Pay eligible service members a Basic Needs Allowance starting January 2023. 

Making Moves Easier

• • Permanently increasing standard TLE maximum coverage from 10 days to 14 for CONUS moves and allowing up to 60 days of TLE if a service member is in a specified Military Housing Area with a housing shortage. 
  • Increase the DLA allowances for E-1 to E-6 service members.
  • Continue improvements to MilitaryOneSource, the Department’s information portal for military families. 

Strengthen the Support to Families

• • Make significant investments in CDP facilities and infrastructure. 
  • Standardize a minimum 50% employee discount for the first child of CDP direct-care workers. 
  • Improve access to childcare programs and resources. 

Expand Spousal Employment

• • Accelerate the development of 7 additional occupational licensure interstate compacts with organizations representing multiple professions. 
  • Increase the use of noncompetitive, direct-hiring authorities for military spouses in the DoD and further expand remote work and telework options. 
  • Launch a new career accelerator pilot initiative that matches military spouses with paid private-sector fellowships. 
  • Increase the number of partners in the MSEP program by 10%. 

You can read the entire Memorandum here. 

Bill Moore, director and CEO of the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), stated that The Department’s added investment in our budget allows us to reduce commissary prices at the register by about 3-5 % on most items – particularly on food staples that struggling military families need most such as bread, eggs, milk and more. With this boost, we can achieve at least 25 percent in overall savings for eligible patrons who shop their commissaries.”

It will be a good thing to see prices go down a little bit at the Commissary. We can all feel the pinch of rising prices in our world, and hopefully, this, along with other items that the DoD has proposed will make life a little bit easier. 

 

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