{"id":60983,"date":"2019-07-22T20:32:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T20:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/22\/heres-how-3-million-more-people-will-get-military-shopping-benefits\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:20:52","slug":"heres-how-3-million-more-people-will-get-military-shopping-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/07\/22\/heres-how-3-million-more-people-will-get-military-shopping-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how 3 million more people will get military shopping benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As about 3 million more people will soon be eligible to shop at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/2019\/02\/08\/military-stores-launch-effort-to-boost-their-buying-power-and-their-customers-savings\/\" target=\"_blank\">military stores<\/a>, officials are working to make sure these new customers will have access to bases, and that the shelves will be stocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting Jan. 1, all service-connected disabled veterans, Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war and primary veteran caregivers will be eligible to shop at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/2019\/05\/17\/have-you-shopped-at-your-commissary-lately-savings-are-up-and-more-plans-are-in-the-works\/\" target=_blank>commissaries<\/a> and exchanges, and officials from three federal agencies are preparing the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The newly eligible customers will also be able to use certain morale, welfare and recreation activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the largest patronage expansion in more than 60 years, said Virginia Penrod, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs, who spoke at a recent meeting of the American Logistics Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2018\/07\/26\/heres-why-more-veterans-caregivers-may-get-commissary-exchange-privileges-by-2020\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MIL-COMMISSARY-web-file.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Here\u2019s why more veterans, caregivers may get commissary, exchange privileges by 2020<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The proposal, part of the annual defense authorization bill, is en route to the Senate.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security have been planning for the expansion for more than six months, with four teams totaling about 70 people. Among other things, they\u2019ve decided how the new customers will get access to military installations and to the stores; assessed the impact on the stores, and have been making plans to ensure enough products get to the shelves in the right assortment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act expanded the pool of eligible shoppers. Because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/2019\/05\/28\/more-than-200000-dhs-employees-have-this-new-benefit\/\" target=_blank>the expansion also applies to Coast Guard facilities<\/a>, the Department of Homeland Security has been involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The law also included Medal of Honor recipients, but they already had shopping privileges. Previously, veterans with 100 percent service-connected disabilities were able to shop; now all with service-connected disabilities can shop. The benefit extends to MWR programs that are \u201crevenue-generating facilities,\u201d according to the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The expansion is about a 50 percent increase in customers. Currently, about 6 million total households are eligible for the benefit; this adds 3 million, said Justin Hall, director of the DoD office of MWR and Resale Policy. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge lift across the entire system.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2018\/06\/06\/heres-how-your-commissary-plans-to-get-back-lost-customers\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/25265401217_7cd75a182b_k.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Here\u2019s how your commissary plans to get back lost customers<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Lower prices. Expanded hours. And &#039;YES,&#039; a new marketing program. Also, beer.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials have been mapping out the areas, using VA statistics, where there may be more of an impact on the stores. The impact assessments generally show there will be a low to moderate impact on military stores overall, said Penrod. But she called on representatives of industry for their help to make sure the supply chain \u201cremains responsive to the increased sales volume to ensure no out of stock situations occur\u201d at stores in states with high populations of disabled veterans and in states with higher cost of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">States with a higher population density of disabled veterans are Florida, Texas and California, said Barry Patrick, in the DoD office of resale policy. High cost areas were identified as Hawaii; Alaska, California; the Washington metropolitan area; New York; New Jersey and Washington state, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These new shoppers generally don\u2019t have access to military bases. Officials have decided the best form of identification for these groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><b>Disabled and other eligible veterans:<\/b> For access into the installation, and for access to the stores, they\u2019ll use the veterans health ID card, Patrick said. Officials are working to enable technology at the front gate to scan those veteran cards, and will start scanning the cards in October, he said. Commissary officials are working on adjusting their technology to enable systems to read the veterans health ID card.<\/li><li><b>Caregivers:<\/b> The process will be different, initially, Patrick said, since they\u2019re not directly affiliated with DoD or VA other than through their annual appointment to be a caregiver. The benefit applies to the primary caregiver of wounded\/injured veterans who are registered in the Department of Veterans Affairs caregiver program. Beginning in October, the VA will post a memo to <a href=\"http:\/\/va.gov\/\" target=_blank>VA.gov<\/a> for caregivers, to be used for access at the front gate, along with driver\u2019s license or other authorized form of ID. The VA process will later transition to a caregiver-type ID card, which will have scanning swipe capability, he said.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently there are about 30,000 VA caregivers who will qualify for this benefit, but over the next several years the number could potentially grow to about 250,000, Patrick noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Credit card fee<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These new customers will pay a fee for using a credit card at commissaries, except for the military resale system\u2019s Military Star card. The amount of the fee has not yet been determined. By law, this expansion can\u2019t include extra costs associated with using credit cards in commissaries; the cost must be passed on to the customer. Except for the Military Star card, credit card companies charge transaction fees to retailers when customers use their credit cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There will be a flag built into the system at commissaries so that when the card is swiped the fee will be charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2018\/05\/01\/benefits-basics-commissaries-and-exchanges\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"165\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/General-commissary-pic.-Moody.-Credit-DeCA.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Benefits basics: Commissaries and exchanges<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">How veterans, troops and military families can shop smart<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fee applies only to new patrons using credit cards in commissaries, not to Medal of Honor recipients or others who were previously authorized to shop. New customers can avoid the fees by paying by cash, check or using the Military Star card. It only applies at the commissary, which is funded primarily by taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DoD resale community has been working together to estimate the number of likely shoppers by location, and the merchandise categories that will interest those shoppers. For example, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service will be adjusting its inventory by location, said Chris Ward, spokesman for AAFES. \u201cExtending the brick-and-mortar military exchange benefit to all disabled veterans is not expected to require material investments in facilities or technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patrick said officials will launch an information campaign to get out the word about the new benefit to the new customers, but also to installation officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Officials are working to make sure these veterans can get access to base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":86641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,89,80,16,26,8,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3232],"class_list":["post-60983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-mil-money","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FGEDIVKOYJB67BYMDWQLSJ3DDY","arc_canonical_url":"\/pay-benefits\/2019\/07\/22\/heres-how-3-million-more-people-will-get-military-shopping-benefits\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Here\u2019s how 3 million more people will get military shopping benefits - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Officials are working to make sure these veterans can get access to base.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here\u2019s how 3 million more people will get military shopping benefits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Officials are working to make sure these veterans can get access to base.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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