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Right, Obama played this game throughout the Govt shut down and sequester
It's congress. The budget control act tied the hands of the DOD. Now, because it's a political game, the DOD comptroller, service chiefs and secretariats will throw shock ideas to save money in an effort to try and appeal to emotions.
Most of the time, Costco and Walmart are priced better than our commissary, anyway, and Aldi ALWAYS is. It would be one thing if the commissary offered major savings, but, at least here, it's negligible. Because of that, there aren't that many things I shop for at the commissary, but typically go to Aldi, Walmart, or Costco instead.
Senator Cobourn (R. OK) put out a paper called the "Dept. of Everything." In it he outlines areas where he believes the DOD has lost sight of its goal to defend the US. The DOD runs everything from almost 300 grocery stores, to breweries to day care. http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/...6-019695e52d2d
Interesting read on page 66s to 68. Just one portion:
Quote:
By getting the Department of Defense out of the grocery business here in the United States, Congress could increase military pay across the board and allow military members to shop at the stores of their choice. This change would also certainly help achieve the original purpose of the commissary benefit: recruitment and retention through higher pay and benefits.
It might seem that higher pay might be possible. He states " Adopting this option would do just that by saving more than $5 billion every year once fully implemented without compromising our nation’s defense in any way". Maybe, who knows? We have about 1,429,995 active military, and we could save $5,000,000,000 million per year? How about parsing one half of that out to all active duty members? $2,500,000,000 would come out to $145 per month pay raise for each active duty member... There are a few flaws, the Senator talks about just cutting CONUS commissaries, some his budget numbers seem to be for U.S. military throughout the whole world.
There is no possible way they would make a cut and give it back to members.
I expect some rough cuts in the next few years. Tricare rates go up. Retiree benefits cut. Active duty funding severely slashed. Unless the sequester is repealed, the next couple years for the DOD is going to hurt.
As stated above, this has nothing to do with the administration- it's the DoD's idea and most, if not all, of the service chiefs are in favor of it.
I know I can count on one hand how many times we have done our grocery shopping in the commissary over the last 5 years.
You may be able to count on one hand, but the long lines at my local commissary tell a different story. Costco may be cheaper, but the closest one to my base is an hour away. From the next base, 2-2.5 hours. When the commissaries were closed as part of the government shutdown the line wrapped around the entire store the last day prior to closing. One of my friends on recruiting duty grocery bill increased by over $300 monthly because he did not have access to a commissary. I fortunately recruited in a military town.
I will agree that most DOD cuts are for shock value to show how bad sequestration is hurting the force. Just like the Navy saying they won't be able to float ships, the Marines saying the MEUs won't be able to float. At the end of the day the ones who will pay for these cuts are the individual servicemen, just like the last drawdown in the mid 90's. A lot of servicemen are going to be out of job. Just like any other business, the largest cost is personnel.
I wila gree that most DODO cuts are for shock value to show how bad sequestration is hurting the force. Just like th eNAvy saying they won't be able to float ships, the Marines saying the MEUs won't be able to float. At tehe end of the day the ones who will pay for these cuts are the individual servicemen, just like the last drawdown in the mid 90's. A lot of servicemen are going to be out of job. Just like any other business, the largest cost is personnel.
I agree. If you're still active, I would start planning and exploring other options. You never know what could happen. It doesn't hurt to be prepared for a job loss.
The Navy has been doing it for the past couple of years. There were a lot of people who thought they were safe that ended up being cut. Many were not prepared and they were severely affected when the pay checks stopped.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macjr82
You may be able to count on one hand, but the long lines at my local commissary tell a different story. Costco may be cheaper, but the closest one to my base is an hour away. From the next base, 2-2.5 hours. When the commissaries were closed as part of the government shutdown the line wrapped around the entire store the last day prior to closing. One of my friends on recruiting duty grocery bill increased by over $300 monthly because he did not have access to a commissary. I fortunately recruited in a military town.
There's no Wal Mart near the base?
I can understand no Costco/Sam's nearby, but Wal mart has always been nearby in every town I've been.
I agree. If you're still active, I would start planning and exploring other options. You never know what could happen. It doesn't hurt to be prepared for a job loss.
The Navy has been doing it for the past couple of years. There were a lot of people who thought they were safe that ended up being cut. Many were not prepared and they were severely affected when the pay checks stopped.
There's no Wal Mart near the base?
I can understand no Costco/Sam's nearby, but Wal mart has always been nearby in every town I've been.
IME experience, brand for brand, Walmart is on par with the commissary, then they have the store brand that trumps it. Walmart and the commissary go back and forth on the produce, depending on the item. But where the Commissary truly excels is the meats, the savings on meat still aren't beat anywhere.
There is no possible way they would make a cut and give it back to members.
I expect some rough cuts in the next few years. Tricare rates go up. Retiree benefits cut. Active duty funding severely slashed. Unless the sequester is repealed, the next couple years for the DOD is going to hurt.
Take my word for it, our military and those in uniform will NOT suffer under the mandatory cuts unless DOD chooses to continue operating as it does. Considering that DOD is one of the few departments where budgets have built in percentage for fraud waste and mismanagement, DOD can cover any and all cost for the uniformed forces at current or heightened levels if they just took fighting waste, mismanagement and especially fraud seriously. However, since these three items are a cancer within the DOD and all the branches, they will cut the amount of ammunition you have versus the $12 billion waste and fraud discovered in some project.
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