WASHINGTON – Among the many civilian defense employees called back to work by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel were those who staff the base commissaries, allowing the military stores to open Monday.
“I know a lot of people [were] lined up come Monday,” said Rick Brink, a spokesman for the Defense Commissary Agency.
Many commissary customers took to Twitter to express their relief at the reopenings but also frustration at their lack of access to affordable groceries for the week the commissaries were closed.
Temerity Jane, who is married to a serviceman, said in a tweet about her husband, “He’s exhausted and stressed. The commissary is closed and our grocery budget is busted.”
In another tweet, Gaby from Central Illinois called the shutdown and subsequent commissary closures “awful.”
The government shutdown has hurt military families in many ways but the inability to shop at commissaries where savings on groceries average 30 percent cut deep.
“The commissary benefit is one of the top benefits for military active duty and those retired. … It helps them stretch the paycheck further,” Brink said.
Kathleen Moakler of the National Military Families association said reopening the commissaries was crucial for many families.
“These families, especially those in remote locations…wouldn’t be eligible for savings in civilian stores,” Moakler said.
There are 246 commissaries worldwide that provide lower-priced groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families. Approximately 12 million customers were served in fiscal 2012, according to the Defense Commissary Agency.
The DCA reports that a family of four has an annual savings of about $4,500 by shopping at commissaries compared with retail grocery stores.
“We need the commissary back…we just moved into town from Texas and things are a lot more expensive out here,” said an Army wife outside of a Giant food grocery store in Washington.
