Lawmaker is 'Ground Zero' for Commissary Reforms

Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) is a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, a soldier-physician thrice deployed and also a discerning commissary shopper. Heck knows grocery stores because his father spent a lifetime in the business, starting as a 17-year-old checkout clerk and rising to regional supervisor of a super market chain. "I used to go to work with him as a kid all the time," Heck said. "That's how I spent my Saturdays." Perhaps that's also why, as chairman of the House armed services' subcommittee on military personnel, Heck is sounding so confident that Congress can reform base grocery stores. He plans to have his subcommittee shape legislation next year that will make commissaries more efficient and generating first-ever profits, thus lowering taxpayer costs for the benefit. For more details, see this Military Advantage blog post.