We told you several weeks ago about a move by the Senate to combine the Exchange and Commissary systems in an effort to fund the healthcare for vets hurt by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987.
I’ve yet to come up with one single entity that thinks this is a good idea. Yes, vets need and deserve healthcare – but the drastic move of combining the commissary and Exchange systems, stake holders say, is not the answer.
Joining the chorus of “no” is now one of the main supporters of helping the Lejeune vets. He recently said that eliminating cheap groceries is not the answer.
We know that the Defense Department is facing major cuts even before trying to pay for new programs, such as taking care of these important vets. It’s unclear what, exactly, a combined commissary and Exchange system would look like. But it’s almost for sure that it would not include the discounts and privileges commissary customers know and love today.
You can tell your Senator exactly what you think about this idea over here. Remember, if you are stationed OCONUS you’ll want to include your stateside zipcode of record on this form (or the state in which you are a registered voter), not your current station.
