When the FY 2004 Defense Authorization Bill is signed into law, probably by late fall, Selected Reservists, National Guard members, "gray-area" Reserve retirees, and their families will gain unlimited shopping privileges in base commissaries.

It will be an important sign of deepening appreciation for reservists and should be 
"transparent" to current commissary patrons, says Maj. Gen. Michael P. 

Wiedemer, USAF, director of the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA). Reserve component members for several years have been allowed 24 commissary visits a year and typically used them. Most reservists already fit the DeCA definition of "frequent shoppers." Therefore, Wiedemer doesn't expect unlimited access for reservists to result in longer checkout lines or more crowded aisles.

"We do not have to open the stores any additional hours," he says. "We don't have to hire additional people. We are prepared to support those personnel." 

At the same time, it's a well-deserved benefit gain. "The Reserves are delivering war-fighting capability just as well and as often as active duty counterparts and should be compensated as first-team members, 
including from a commissary perspective," says Wiedemer.

The DeCA director expressed his support despite criticism of the expanded shopping initiative from officials at the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB officials oppose this and other "unrequested" initiatives that can be found in House or Senate versions of the bill. This one was in both, which virtually ensures enactment. 

OMB officials told congressional leaders when lawmakers add personnel initiatives like this one -- or a proposed doubling of the military's $6,000 death gratuity or a new incentive pay for assignment to South Korea -- to the Defense Authorization Bill, it undermines service prerogatives on managing personnel and diverts resources from higher priorities.

Congress was expected to ignore that complaint. 

Lawmakers view themselves as guardians of the commissary benefit, which military people regard as their most important perk after subsidized health care. Indeed, the guardian role has been played of late. 

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said two years ago, and again in 2002, it was time to see whether commercial grocers, at a few select bases, can run commissaries more efficiently than does the government. Opponents of the idea, which include uniformed leaders of every service, fear a test would lead to full privatization of stateside stores, and, over time, reduce the value of the benefit.

If Congress hadn't blocked the move as the administration settled in, commercial grocers already might be running grocery stores on at least two Army and two Marine Corps bases. Wiedemer says he knows of no active proposal to privatize commissary operations, but one can find a wide variety of views on matters within the department.

"I have never seen a business case to justify privatization of the commissaries yet," he says.

Asked about the safety of the benefit today, Wiedemer points to the source of commissary protection across several decades -- Congress. 

"Commissaries," he says, "have as good or better congressional support than they have ever had."

Wiedemer assumed command of DeCA in August 2002. The system has more than 275 stores and $5 billion in annual sales. The most recent price comparison survey showed commissary shoppers save more than 30 percent compared to commercial grocery store prices. That was based on comparison of commissary prices on products sold through a weighted mix of off-base grocers, ranging from deeply discounted super centers to higher priced retailers.

A typical military family of four saves $2,400 a year shopping at commissaries, 
according to DeCA estimates. But DeCA is "under constant pressure," Wiedemer says, to reduce taxpayer support for commissary. That subsidy remains at just over $1 billion a year.

Wiedemer hopes to find ways to trim that total "through our own initiatives and not be forced to take directed cuts.'' Do defense officials seek such cuts?

"I would say you could get a variety of opinions," he says. But the projected five-year defense budget shows no significant changes. 

Tom Philpott is a freelance writer and syndicated news columnist. His column, "Military Update," appears in 48 daily newspapers throughout the United States and overseas. His book, Glory Denied: The Saga of Jim Thompson, America's Longest-Held POW (W.W. Norton & Co., 2001), now is available in paperback (Plume, 2002).