Trump Administration looking to privatized military commissaries [View all]
The Defense Commissary Agency asked Friday for the commercial grocery industry to weigh in on the possible privatization of 178 stores that provide discounted groceries to military families in the U.S.
The purpose of this [request for information] is to determine whether commercial grocery operators and investment firms are both interested in and capable of assuming commissary operations, with no government subsidy or with a materially reduced subsidy, while preserving the critical military benefit of a 23.7% average savings for authorized patrons, the agency said in a statement Friday.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002
I'm hoping, as a military retiree, this doesn't happen. The savings the commissary provides active duty and retirees is a substantial perk that helps supplement our income. Military members typically make less than their civilian counterparts meaning we pay less into Social Security and receive less in Social Security when we retire. So any savings the commissary can provide us saves us money. If the commissary were to be privatized, we'd probably save less money and there's the chance the company would favor stocking their stores first when there are food shortages.
Sometimes, privatization doesn't work out in the long run and IMO, this won't work out well for anyone other than the company that runs the commissary.