Department of Defense Expanding Access to Military Commissaries, Exchanges and Recreation Facilities
The Department of Defense is proud to expand commissary, exchange and morale, welfare and recreation retail eligibility to:
- Purple Heart recipients
- Former prisoners of war
- All veterans with service-connected disabilities
- Individuals approved and designated as the primary family caregivers of eligible veterans under the Department of Veterans Affairs Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family
Facilities like these will be open to the newly eligible patrons starting January 1, 2020:
- Commissaries*
- Military service exchanges
- Golf courses
- Bowling centers
- Recreational lodging
- RV campgrounds
- Movie theaters
- And more!
*DoD is required to charge a small fee to new users who are eligible solely under the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018, to cover any increase in costs to the U.S. Treasury for processing commercial credit and debit cards.
AAFES and Military Exchanges to Allow Veterans to Shop Online
Online shopping access will be available to all honorably discharged veterans of the United States Armed Forces (honorable or general under honorable conditions). This does not include shopping at the physical stores located on bases.
This eligibility includes veterans of the United States Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well as the Air Force Reserve, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve and National Guard.
Allowing these veterans to shop at AAFES online would give these veterans access to savings on a variety of products and could provide an additional $100 million for base Morale, Welfare, and Recreation programs and other quality of life programs. Increased sales could also allow AAFES to negotiate discounts on larger, bulk orders of goods.
Extending the privilege of online shopping to qualified veterans would be a good way to thank veterans for their service, increase sales for AAFES, and increase distributions to base programs.
Update: Veterans can now verify their online shopping eligibility at VetVerify.org