| Defense
commissary benefits coming to McConnelsville, Columbus for July
weekend dates |
COLUMBUS, Ohio—The
Defense Commissary Agency is taking the commissary benefit to
National Guard and Reserve members and their families living in
remote areas.
“The 2004 National Defense Authorization Act authorized full
commissary benefits for members of the Ready Reserve,” said
Richard Page, acting director at DeCA. “Through our new
“Bringing the Benefit to You” campaign, we are reaching out to
our Guard and Reserve members who have earned the commissary
benefit, but who cannot easily travel to a local commissary to
shop on a regular basis.”
“Bringing the Benefit to You” involves conducting on-site sales
out of warehouses, aircraft hangars, armories, tents in parking
lots, and even the back ends of semi-trailers at remote
locations where Soldiers and Families do not have access to a
commissary.
The Ohio Army and Air National Guard and the Defense Commissary
Agency (DeCA) at Wright Patterson Air force Base, near Dayton,
are working together to provide the military community
commissary shopping at convenient locations, including two
upcoming sales in Central and Southeast Ohio.
On-site commissary sales will be conducted July 12-13 at the
Clarence E. Miller National Guard Armory in McConnelsville and
July 19-20 at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, in the BX
(base exchange) parking lot. The sales will run from 10 a.m. to
7 p.m. Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. All
active-duty and reserve component military personnel, dependents
and retirees with a valid ID card are welcome to participate.
In addition, DeCA is looking to hire Family members and
community members to assist with the on-site shopping locations.
For job opportunities, log onto www.usajobs.gov.
This is part of the Army’s reinforced commitment of support to
military members and their Families through the Army Family
Covenant. A core military Family support element and a valued
part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to
Family readiness and enhance the quality of life for America’s
military and their Families.
“While the focus is on Guard and Reserve, the on-site sales are
a boon to all authorized shoppers living near them,” Page said.
“The Guard and Reserve members have earned this benefit and we
want to make sure that we are delivering the benefit to them.”
More than 55 percent of the National Guard and Reserves members
do not live in what is considered the immediate area of a
commissary.
“This is just part of a larger picture,” Page continued. “Back
in the fall when I became the acting director of DeCA, I had
several priorities, one of which was to make sure that we were
doing our very best for the Guard and Reserve members not
located near a commissary.”
Page said DeCA is exploring ways to increase the frequency of
the on-site sales and locations by looking at the demographic
areas that are largely populated with the Guard and Reserve
members. The effort now is modest, involving sales of 150 to 400
popular items at just over 100 Guard facilities and reserve
centers this year. These “case-lot” or bulk sales events are
getting larger, more frequent and more festive, says Page. By
2010, the number could reach 400 sites.
A current schedule of “on-site sales” can be found online at:
www.commissaries.com/guard_reserve_sales.cfm. By the end of the
year, Page said, DeCA plans to establish an online site where
military shoppers, willing to pay shipping costs, can order
commissary club-pack products anytime online for delivery to
their homes. OHIO ADJUTANT GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS
AND MARGARET MCKENZIE / ARMY FAMILY, MORALE, WELFARE AND
RECREATION COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS. |
