The new year may bring more clarity to the future of the commissary benefit, following a year in which the system came under perhaps its most intense scrutiny ever.
Actions to be completed in the first half of the year are expected to further define how money can be saved in the commissary budget. Proposals from Defense Department officials over the past two years to gradually cut $1 billion from the roughly $1.3 billion annual commissary budget were perceived as being driven by a need for money, rather than the need for reform — and were rejected by lawmakers.
Congress recently passed a provision that some say forces the Pentagon's hand, by requiring defense officials to come up with a comprehensive plan to make the commissary benefit, as well as the military exchanges, "budget neutral." In other words, the stores would operate with zero taxpayer dollars, while also sustaining their traditional hefty discounts to customers.
A plan must be submitted by March 1, with a target implementation date of Oct. 1, 2018. DoD is authorized to conduct pilot programs to test different ideas for achieving the targets — again, while maintaining customer discounts.
Defense officials say the most that can be cut out of the commissary budget by that time is $300 million, a little over 21 percent of the current annual operating budget. The only way to get the additional billion-plus in budget cuts would be to reduce savings, close stores or both, Peter Levine, DoD's deputy chief management officer, said recently. "My message is that we can't take that drastic step and expect to maintain the benefit," he said.
Indeed, DoD recently has been moving away from its own more drastic cost-cutting proposals. Now, officials will "look for efficiencies first, and let efficiencies drive the budget rather than the other way around," Levine said.
The Military Retirement and Compensation Modernization Commission and an outside consultant both completed reviews in 2015 that recommended consolidation of the military commissary and exchange systems to some degree. But defense officials continue to believe that is not necessary.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
