Bringing the commissary to the Guard

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Defense Commissary Agency is bridging the gap between installation-based commissaries and the community-based Guard.

Some 258 commissaries worldwide sell groceries and other household goods to U.S. servicemembers, families and retirees.

Guardmembers have had the same commissary privileges as their active duty counterparts since 2004. But using the installation-based benefit can be a challenge for the community-based Guard.

The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), which delivers the commissary benefit to servicemembers and their families, is making the benefit more useful to Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen.

And the industry that supports the commissaries recently donated $95,000 to reduce the stress on Guardmembers.

Instead of forcing the Guardmember to go to a distant commissary or miss out on the benefit, DeCA is bringing the commissary to the Guardmember.

"We've been asked to improve delivery of the benefit to National Guard members and their families," said Richard S. Page, acting director of the Defense Commissary Agency based at Fort Lee, Va. "This is a key initiative for DeCA this year that has been emphasized by our Board of Directors as well as the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.

"With the Guard providing more value to our national security, we are doing what we can to increase the value of the benefit that we deliver to the National Guard."

Since 1991, DeCA has delivered the commissary benefit to active duty servicemembers concentrated on installations. Guardmembers serve part-time between deployments and live in almost every community in the nation, sometimes hundreds of miles from the nearest military base. DeCA seeks Guardmembers' ideas on how to get the most from commissaries.

"It's open season on good ideas on how to expand the benefit," Page said. "Help us get more of the benefit to you."

The commissary industry did just that in time for the 2007 holiday season by contributing money for $100 CertifiChecks that Guardmembers could redeem at commissaries.

CertifiChecks

"They heard about the need in the National Guard due to increased operational tempo and pace of deployments," Page said. "With the length of deployments and families left behind, they thought it fit to raise some donations in the form of CertifiChecks."

LTG H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, accepted a symbolic CertifiCheck on Dec. 20 to mark the industry initiative. The CertifiChecks were sent to states across America for distribution to Guardmembers.

"You have made a big difference," Blum told officials of DeCA and the American Logistics Association, the trade association that represents companies conducting business with commissaries. "I was amazed and what a beautiful time of year to do this."

The extent of industry support for the Guard surprised even DeCA officials.

"I was overwhelmed with the generosity of our suppliers and our manufacturers," Page said. "There are a lot of patriotic Americans, who really appreciate what the Guard is doing for our country, and they stepped up for them."

Commissary savings mean that $95,000 is actually worth more than $120,000, with each $100 CertifiCheck more useful than its face value.

"It's not only $100," Page said. "It's $100 at the commissary, which is 30 percent more than what you'd get if you were spending it downtown so it's kind of $130."

Commissaries

How can $100 be $130 at the commissary?

"We sell grocery and household items at cost," Page explained. Appropriated funds pay for commissary labor and operational expenses, so there is no profit markup. A five percent surcharge pays for construction and maintenance of commissary buildings. Even with adding the surcharge, commissary prices average 30 percent lower than commercial supermarkets.

In late December, for example, commissary shoppers stood to save 31.2 percent compared with shopping off post. Page said that figure was derived from an across-the-store, barcode-to-barcode price comparison.

Commissary operations are paid for with congressionally appropriated funds. About $1 billion pumped into the system each year generates about $2 billion in savings for military shoppers.

"We think that's a good deal," Page said. "A commissary can save a family of four $3,000 or $4,000 a year if they do all their shopping at the commissary."

In 2006, there was about $5.4 billion in commissary sales.

"If everybody, who shopped at the commissary, had to do that same shopping downtown, it would have cost about $7.4 billion instead of $5.4 billion," Page said.

But studies show that 30 miles is about as far as anybody wants to go to shop for groceries, and Guardmembers often live much farther from a commissary, so DeCA's dilemma is how to maximize Guard access.

"With a business model like DeCA's, where you're selling at cost and there's no profit margin, there are some unique business challenges," Page said. "We're looking at innovative ways to deliver at least some portion of the commissary benefit to those who are far away from a commissary."

DeCA has already found some ways.

Truckload sales started about three years ago. DeCA brings a generic assortment in case lots and regular shelf-units of popular items to Guardmembers at drilling units.

"Those have been very well-received," Page. "Certainly it's not a full commissary, but it provides a lot of good, high-value items."

A truckload sale requires teamwork, Page said. DeCA's industry partners take care of the distribution. DeCA performs the actual sales. The host Guard unit gets the word out to Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, then provides the ground support for the event.

Truckload sales at 21 National Guard and Reserve locations exceeded $1.6 million in 2007. In one example, Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen helped to airlift products to Guardmembers for a truckload sale in Nome, Alaska.

DeCA is studying enhancing future truckload sales by increasing cooperation between the commissary and Guard units. For example, collecting specific orders in advance could allow DeCA to deliver packages tailored to each Guardmember's needs. Another idea is to maximize access for family members left behind by scheduling sales following mobilization events.

"I want to thank all the Guardmembers and their families for all they do for this great nation,"Page said.

DeCA is thanking Guardmembers by making commissaries more accessible, and its supporting industry has done so in cash.

CertifiCheck contributors included 3M, the Alberto Culver Company, Alcoa, the American Pop Corn Co., Barilla, Bissell, Del Monte, Dial, Discovery Foods, Energizer, Hanes, Heinz, Imperial Sugar, Jack Links BeefJerky, JFC International, Johnson & Johnson, John Soules Foods, Kellogg, Kikkoman, Knouse, Kraft Foods, Maruchan, Mead Johnson, National Industries for the Blind, Novartis, Nestle, Osram Sylvania, Pictsweet, Playtex, QTG, Ruiz Food Products, S&K Sales, Sara Lee, Schick Wilkinson Sword, Schwan's, SC Johnson, Shasta, Spectrum Brands, Welch's and White Wave Foods.

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