Share

Due to the sequester and recent government shutdown, the military has been facing a lack of funding for some of its essential base operations, including commissaries.

According to The Fayetteville Observer, the Department of Defense is considering closing more than 175 commissaries located on domestic military installations, a move that will impact many military shoppers.

"[It] would be a dramatic impact on a lot of people," Mark Erskine, an Army veteran who is now commander of American Legion Post 230, told the news source. "Around here, lots and lots of veterans stay here. They stay here so they have access to using military benefits. The commissary and PX – those are benefits of being veterans, retired or on 100 percent disability."

The news outlet stated that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asked the Defense Commissary Agency to create a plan that would close a majority of the military's stateside commissaries as part of the 2015 fiscal defense budget, which is due next February.

According to statistics released by the DeCA, servicemembers, veterans and military families who shop at commissaries receive about a 30 percent discount on groceries and other household goods.