Defense Department civilians can shop at these 16 commissaries during the expansion test

Defense Department civilian employees will be able to purchase from 16 commissaries as part of a pilot program for the next 120 days.

The selected stores, all located in the continental United States, is open to all Department of Defense civilian employees, both restricted and unrestricted fund employees. The DOD pilot program is testing the feasibility of extending commissary benefits to DOD civilians in all U.S. commissaries, Defense Commissary Agency officials said in an announcement of the test, which begins Thursday.

Defense officials have directed the commissioner’s office to monitor any impact of increased customer numbers on the operations of the pilot stores and report those findings.

Family members of civilian Department of Defense employees and former or retired civilian employees of the Department of Defense are not eligible for testing. Department of Defense civilian employees cannot purchase tobacco or alcohol products and do not have Click2Go online purchasing privileges.

Military commissars have been offering the benefit of discounted food on military installations for 157 years. Current authorized customers include active, reserve and retired military personnel. veterans with service-connected disabilities; Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipients; and authorized family members and other eligible patrons.

The 16 stores are located in seven states:

• Alaska: Eielson Air Force Base
• California: Naval Air Force Station China Lake and Fort Irwin
• Georgia: Marine Corps Logistical Base Albany and Robins Air Force Base
• Maryland: Patuxent River Naval Air Station
• Oklahoma: Altus Air Force Base
• Texas: Laughlin Air Force Base
• Virginia: Naval Support Facility Dahlgren; Joint Base Langley-Eustis (commissioners at Fort Eustis and Langley Air Force Base); Fort Gregg Adams; Little Creek-Fort Story Joint Expeditionary Base (Little Creek Commissary); Norfolk Naval Base; Naval Air Station Oceana; and Norfolk Naval Shipyard (Portsmouth).

Officials selected the test stores based on criteria such as the size of the store (from small to large) and the store’s ability to accommodate additional customers. They also selected a few stores with a high concentration of Defense Department civilians in the area to test the commission’s ability to handle a large increase in customers.

Information about how many Defense Department civilians would be eligible to shop at those 16 stores was not immediately available.

“Ultimately, it is expected that allowing Defense civilians to shop at the commissaries will increase (the commissaries’) sales volume and result in additional savings for all customers through lower wholesale prices and increased promotions by suppliers,” commissary officials said.

In May 2021, Defense officials expanded purchasing privileges for Department of Defense and Coast Guard civilian employees at military exchanges in the U.S. and U.S. territories and possessions.