USA — Commissaries to Remain Open During Shutdown

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2011 — All com­mis­saries will remain open world­wide even if the gov­ern­ment shuts down, Pen­ta­gon spokesman Marine Col. Dave Lapan said today.
The Defense Com­mis­sary Agency, with head­quar­ters at Fort Lee, Vir­ginia, oper­ates a world­wide chain of com­mis­saries pro­vid­ing gro­ceries to mil­i­tary per­son­nel, retirees and their families. 

Agency offi­cials say the com­mis­saries are a core mil­i­tary fam­i­ly sup­port ele­ment, and a val­ued part of mil­i­tary pay and ben­e­fits. Com­mis­saries con­tribute to fam­i­ly readi­ness, enhance the qual­i­ty of life for America’s mil­i­tary and their fam­i­lies, and help recruit and retain the best and bright­est men and women to serve their country. 

Autho­rized patrons pur­chase items at cost plus a 5‑percent sur­charge, which cov­ers the costs of build­ing new com­mis­saries and mod­ern­iz­ing exist­ing ones. 

Shop­pers save an aver­age of more than 30 per­cent on their pur­chas­es com­pared to com­mer­cial prices, a sav­ings worth about $4,400 annu­al­ly for a fam­i­ly of four. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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