Military Officials Tell Troops Commissaries Could Close

OfficialsLinsist Commissaries will be open through Thanksgiving, but 168 U.S. Stores could Close soon after. Overseas Stores would remain Open for another Month. Some Military leaders are telling their Troops to prepare for their On-Base Commissaries to Close by early December, if the Government Shutdown continues. As many as 168 Locations at Bases across the Continental U.S. could be Affected. But Officials with the Agency that Runs the Military-Only Grocery Stores insisted that the Stores will be Open through Thanksgiving. “Our stores will be open to serve our customers through Thanksgiving,” Kevin Robinson, a Spokesperson for the Defense Commissary Agency (DECA) said.

While DECA Officials have been Planning for the Closures since at least Last Month, Military Leaders began telling Troops this week, to Plan for December Closings. Leaders of Two Large Military Units Advised Troops that DECA is likely to begin Cutting Back on Restocking Inventory at the Military-Only Base Grocery Stores on Nov. 14th, with Plans to Close nearly All Stores in the U.S. by Dec. 3rd. Both emails cited Updates the Leaders received earlier this week from DECA.

The emails appear to be Updates on a System-Wide Shutdown Plan, that was laid out in an Oct. 24th Webinar. DECA Chief Executive Officer John Hall (R) and Acting Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and eCommerce Jim Flannery (R) said on that Webinar that if the Shutdown persists into late November, Virtually All Commissaries in the U.S. could be Closed, outside of a Handful in particularly Remote areas. Both emails sent to Troops this week cite Dec. 3rd as the latest date Stores might Close, though Hall cited Dec. 5th in the Webinar.

Commissaries Overseas would stay Open longer, Hall said in the Meeting. The Webinar was Hosted by the American Logistics Association (ALA) and First Reported by Military Times. The News comes just weeks before Thanksgiving. In One email, a Marine Colonel advised His Unit Leaders to remind their Marines that Commissary Closures “may impact their plans for Thanksgiving/holiday meals.”

In last week’s Webinar, the DECA Officials said that “normal” Thanksgiving Service was a Top Priority. “My definition of ‘normal’ is full sales,” Hall said. “We want to continue to place these orders to ensure full shelves and serve our patrons for the Thanksgiving period. That means we start curtailing orders, shipping orders on or about Nov. 14. We are thinking in terms of we are sprinting through Thanksgiving,” Flannery said. “So business as usual, meeting the needs of our patrons, let them enjoy the Thanksgiving gathering that they normally would, and then right after Thanksgiving, the first part of December, start winding down.”

DECA operates 235 Commissaries on Military Bases Worldwide. Commissaries provide Discounted Groceries, Toiletries, and other Household Goods to Military Families, Retirees, and Defense Department Civilians who Work on Post. The Systems served over 1.7 million Families every month in 2024, with Annual Sales of close to $5 billion, according to the Agency’s 2024 Annual Report.

The Agency Subsidizes its Prices, particularly in Remote Locations where Local Food Prices are far Higher, with Defense Department Funds. The Agency received $1.5 billion in Federal Money in 2024. But with the Government Shutdown, those Funds are Unavailable and the Agency has been Funding Operations with Cash Reserves and previously Allocated Funds, both DECA Officials said during the Webinar. But those Stop-Gap Measures, Hall said, will soon Dry-Up, leading Officials to Plan for Post-Thanksgiving Closures, if No other Funding Scheme, or anEend to the Shutdown, Emerges.

While U.S. Stores will Close, Hall said in the Webinar, that Officials believe they can keep Stores Overseas )OCONUS), Open through December, but would Run Out of Money to Ship Fresh Inventory to those far-flung Stores around New Year’s Day.

“Unless we get some cash from the Department [of Defense] or some other source, we won’t be able to ship goods to OCONUS locations after Dec. 31,” He said of Overseas Bases. “We project that those stores could remain open only until about mid-January.” Hall said Stores would also stay Open in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Bases in the Continental U.S. considered “Food Desert Locations.” Those Locations include Kodiak, Anchorage, and Fort Greely in Alaska; Los Angeles Space Force Base, Fort Irwin and Naval Air Station Fallon in California; Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah; and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington.

It is Unclear if Congress will address Commissaries without a Larger Agreement on the Shutdown. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL, 3rd District), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, indicated that Congress was Unlikely to address Commissaries without a Larger Agreement on the Shutdown.

“If commissaries are forced to close, it will create serious hardships for our military families, who rely on them for a steady and reliable source of food. Trump stepped in to make sure our troops haven’t missed a paycheck yet, but there are so many other problems facing service members and their families — from access to nutrition, to dental services, to grounded flights — that we can’t address each one piecemeal.”

Robinson, the DECA Spokesperson, said the Agency is “working on an update that addresses our contingency operations in the event of a shutdown,” but did Not specify if that included New Funding.










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