It has to do with not wearing a “work uniform” off-base. And how about this tack... Why not get ahead of the game and get gas and ciggys at the base gas station before leaving the base to go home the evening before?
When I was in the Navy I would do anything I could to avoid supporting the NEX. Every NEX employee I have ever met had a bad attitude and they consider customer service to be of no importance since they are serving military members. I would rarely give them a penny (even though the profits would come back as MWR funds).
As far as getting gas at some other location out of uniform, you miss the point. It doesn't affect military bearing so there is no reason for the rule to exist. Instead of applying a rule that makes sense, you instead have tried to figure out how to comply with a rule that makes no sense. There really isn't a reason to apply a rule that makes somebody's life a little more difficult just because someone on high is being stupid (and they are).
Okay Friend, Here I am:
I don’t know what grade/rank you were when you served in the US Navy or what Characterization of Service you were awarded at the time of your discharge (and I wont ask) but I surmise by your tone and attitude in your last thread that you might have had some trouble “following the rules.”
In the military, as you may know, rules and regulations are not made to “make somebody’s life a little more difficult” or “because someone on high is being stupid.” Rules, regulations, and orders are written for the “greater good of all members” AND overall “general good order and discipline” otherwise you have members doing just what the hell they want to do.
If all service members, no matter what branch, could assure the command or staff leadership that they could abide by wearing an appropriate uniform off-base, then there would be no need to dictate the specifics on “Uts and Boots” out in town. That is not going to happen because the leadership usually has to deal with the 10 percent of service members who just don’t give a damn about any rule or regulation.
As a point on rules, laws, etc, I always like to point to a classic line in the movie “Midnight Express” where the main character Billy Hayes is complaining about getting locked up in a Turkish jail for trying smuggle hashish out of the country... He felt that the “law” (read rule) was wrong. The character played by Randy Quaid responds: “It’s not whether the is law is wrong or the law is right, the law IS.
ALL Marines, Sailors, Soldiers can make their service experience more enjoyable if they JUST FOLLOW THE RULES!