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"There is ZERO reason, though, why they couldn't be outsourced and operated at zero cost to the taxpayer while still giving a really good value to the troops."

I don't disagree...however, the article states that 90% will be CLOSED...not realigned, not outsourced, CLOSED.

I know that as a Jr. Enlisted I couldn't have made it without the commissary...

As a retiree as well, yes, the commissary is nice to have and we patronize ours as much as possible because foot traffic and sales help determine which stores remain open...

Some folks here seem to have a real bug up their ass about the commissary and I'm not getting that their responses are rational or logical...they're militant in that they want the stores eliminated.

The point to me is that again, the military is being forced to endure the pain before or for that matter, alongside any of the slugs who feed at the troughs...$2B for 0bamaphones per year, but it's the commissaries and retiree COLAs that need to be cut in order to save a billion or so per year.

Give me damned freakin' break already...so tired of the lying, inane and downright stupid bs being flung around FR and other venues that I could knock the head off the next dumbass who says the military needs to endure the pain as well...as well my ass, the military are the ONLY ones being told to endure the pain.

I don't believe that military members are overpaid, but they are compensated much better than in our old days, and they are not threatened with poverty. It is voluntary military service, after all, so parity is not a requirement - especially since military retirement is excellent and leaves plenty of working years to accrue additional retirement savings in a second career. (And to be fair, let's not assume that federally-funded contractor jobs are typical of the actual civilian market.)

Since the greatest concern should always focus on the lowest-paid junior enlisteds, let's look at the pay of a Lance Corporal (E-3, equivalent to PFC, SN and A1C) at Camp Lejeune, NC with only 2 years in service... His base pay is $1,919 per month, or $23,028 per year. His tax-free Basic Allowance for Subsistence (food) is $352 per month, or $4,224 per year. He may live rent-free in government quarters with utilities provided. If he lives off base and is single, he receives a tax-free Basic Allowance for Housing of $11,016 per year ($918 monthly); if married, his tax-free BAH is $14,472 per year ($1,206 monthly). In the real world this is excellent pay for someone only two years out of high school.

As for SZonian's point that 90% of the commissaries will be closed and not realigned... Good! There's no reason that Exchange stores can't sell groceries -- but I'd privatize both functions, just as we've done successfully with on-base fast food restaurants. Short of fighting wars, enforcing and adjudicating laws and a very few other few legitimate functions, there is NOTHING that private, competitive industry can't do better, more efficiently and at a lower cost than government. It is time to privatize the Exchanges and Commissaries!