Defense Infrastructure: DOD Used Available Guidance in Its Decision to Discontinue Commissary Operations at NAS Brunswick, but Criteria Needs Clarification
Highlights
The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to cease commissary operations at Naval Air Station (NAS) Brunswick, Maine because of a 2005 base realignment and closure recommendation to close the installation and transfer the assigned active-duty personnel and equipment to NAS Jacksonville, Florida. DOD plans to close NAS Brunswick and its commissary by September 15, 2011. As of January 2009, NAS Brunswick commissary--located approximately 6 miles northwest of the air station in the town of Topsham--had more than 19,000 authorized patrons. About 10,000 authorized patrons are expected to remain after the installation closes. Representatives from communities surrounding Brunswick and certain elected state officials expressed concern that the commissary's closure will limit shopping options and purchase prices will rise for reservists, military retirees, and dependents and the relatively small number of active-duty personnel remaining in the region after the installation closes. Commissaries are intended to enhance the quality of life of active-duty personnel, military retirees, and their dependents, and support military readiness, recruitment, and retention goals. Commissaries are not expected to be self-supporting, and provide a noncash benefit for active-duty personnel by offering food and related household and health and beauty items that are similar to merchandise sold in commercial grocery stores. This merchandise is typically offered for sale at substantially reduced prices (including exemption from any sales taxes) when compared to retail prices at commercial grocery stores. DOD estimates that a family of four can save about $4,400 annually (or approximately 30 percent) by shopping at a commissary instead of a commercial grocery store. As directed by Senate Appropriations Report 111-40, the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) submitted a report to Congress on March 30, 2010, which evaluated the economic feasibility of continuing commissary operations in the Brunswick area following the closure of NAS Brunswick. Per congressional request, we evaluated the extent to which DOD considered applicable guidance in deciding to discontinue commissary operations at NAS Brunswick upon the closure of the installation by September 2011.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To facilitate consistent decision making for commissary operations, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) to revise its commissary guidance for the services. In revising the guidance, at a minimum, DOD should consider clarifying which guidance--if any--applies only to discontinuing commissary operations, and which guidance--if any--applies only to establishing or continuing commissary operations. |
Closed – Implemented
GAO performed a follow-up with the Navy Policy Project Lead of the Resale and Non-Appropriated Funds Office, who reported that changes to the DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries are completed, but that the publication of the instruction is waiting for final signature. The Navy Policy Project Lead confirmed that the revised instruction should be responsive to all six GAO report recommendations. He did not provide a date as to when the publication of DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries will be released. Update as of July 15, 2015: The Undersecretary of Defense (P&R) revised and issued DODI 1330.17 on June 18, 2014. The revised Instruction clarified guidance applying to establishing, continuing, or discontinuing commissary operations.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate consistent decision making for commissary operations, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) to revise its commissary guidance for the services. In revising the guidance, at a minimum, DOD should consider describing how effect on active-duty personnel and their dependents should be measured and used as decision criteria when assessing whether to establish, continue, or discontinue commissary operations. |
Closed – Implemented
GAO performed a follow-up with the Navy Policy Project Lead of the Resale and Non-Appropriated Funds Office, who reported that changes to the DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries are completed, but that the publication of the instruction is waiting for final signature. The Navy Policy Project Lead confirmed that the revised instruction should be responsive to all six GAO report recommendations. He did not provide a date as to when the publication of DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries will be released. Update as of July 15, 2015: The Undersecretary of Defense (P&R) revised and issued DODI 1330.17 on June 18, 2014. The revised Instruction describes how the effect on active duty and their dependents is measured for establishing a commissary and when assessing whether to continue or discontinue commissary operations.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate consistent decision making for commissary operations, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) to revise its commissary guidance for the services. In revising the guidance, at a minimum, DOD should consider describing what conditions would warrant an exception to the general rule to discontinue commissary operations when an installation closes and how the general rule relates to the other criteria. |
Closed – Implemented
GAO performed a follow-up with the Navy Policy Project Lead of the Resale and Non-Appropriated Funds Office, who reported that changes to the DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries are completed, but that the publication of the instruction is waiting for final signature. The Navy Policy Project Lead confirmed that the revised instruction should be responsive to all six GAO report recommendations. He did not provide a date as to when the publication of DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries will be released. The Undersecretary of Defense (P&R) revised and issued DODI 1330.17 on June 18, 2014. The general rule concerning commissary closure was deleted and replaced with section 2.a. which outlines specific criteria for discontinuing commissary operations when an installation closes.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate consistent decision making for commissary operations, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) to revise its commissary guidance for the services. In revising the guidance, at a minimum, DOD should consider defining or clarifying key terms, such as "significant," "in the immediate vicinity," and "economically supportable." |
Closed – Implemented
GAO performed a follow-up with the Navy Policy Project Lead of the Resale and Non-Appropriated Funds Office, who reported that changes to the DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries are completed, but that the publication of the instruction is waiting for final signature. The Navy Policy Project Lead confirmed that the revised instruction should be responsive to all six GAO report recommendations. He did not provide a date as to when the publication of DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries will be released. Update as of July 15, 2015: The Undersecretary of Defense (P&R) revised and issued DODI 1330.17 on June 18, 2014. As part of the revision, DOD deleted the words and phrases "significant," "in the immediate vicinity," "economically supportable," and other vague terms used for commissary operation continuation and discontinuation and replaced them with measurable criteria.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate consistent decision making for commissary operations, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) to revise its commissary guidance for the services. In revising the guidance, at a minimum, DOD should consider specifying whether the minimum of 100 active-duty personnel criterion is a service-specific or DOD-wide requirement and whether temporarily assigned active-duty personnel should be included. |
Closed – Implemented
GAO performed a follow-up with the Navy Policy Project Lead of the Resale and Non-Appropriated Funds Office, who reported that changes to the DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries are completed, but that the publication of the instruction is waiting for final signature. The Navy Policy Project Lead confirmed that the revised instruction should be responsive to all six GAO report recommendations. He did not provide a date as to when the publication of DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries will be released. Update as of July 15, 2015: The Undersecretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness)revised and issued DODI 1330.17 on June 18, 2014. The revision clarified that the number of active duty personnel criterion was a DOD-wide requirement and included National Guard and reserve personnel on active duty as tracked by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). DOD also raised the personnel criterion for commissary establishments from 100 active duty to 500 active duty personnel.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate consistent decision making for commissary operations, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) to revise its commissary guidance for the services. In revising the guidance, at a minimum, DOD should consider explaining the relevance of the distance and time measures to the nearest commissary in making decisions on whether to discontinue commissary operations. |
Closed – Implemented
GAO performed a follow-up with the Navy Policy Project Lead of the Resale and Non-Appropriated Funds Office, who reported that changes to the DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries are completed, but that the publication of the instruction is waiting for final signature. The Navy Policy Project Lead confirmed that the revised instruction should be responsive to all six GAO report recommendations. He did not provide a date as to when the publication of DODI 1330.17 on Military Commissaries will be released. Update as of July 15, 2015: The Undersecretary of Defense (P&R) revised and issued DODI 1330.17 on June 18, 2014. As part of the revision, references to distance and time measures to the nearest commissary were removed from the criteria to discontinue commissary operations. The revised guidance requires Services to follow specific criteria when evaluating whether to discontinue commissary operations.
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