The era of the modern benefit started on July 1, 1867, but the legacy of service continues
By Tamara Eastman, DeCA Historian
FORT LEE, Va. — America is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, but there is another birthday just as important.
On July 1, 2026, the Defense Commissary Agency will mark 159 years that commissaries have been providing a valuable benefit of low-cost groceries to the military community.
The commissary benefit has evolved significantly over the century and a half. Initially, privileges were restricted to officers starting in 1825. However, the era of the modern benefit started on July 1, 1867, when Congress authorized enlisted service members to shop there as well.
A traveler back in time to the commissaries of the 1860s and 1870s, would find them to be nothing like today’s commissaries, which offer a wide variety of fresh produce as well as easy access to shopping that includes online ordering and curbside pickup through Click2Go.
Instead, the commissaries of the 19th century were set up in former wooden horse stables or warehouses. By 1896, the typical commissary had a stock list of around 81 items. Compare that with a stock list of around 15,000 in many commissaries today.
When U.S. troops started deploying overseas, commissaries followed. The first overseas commissary opened in Cuba in 1899, followed by another in China in 1900. The commissary in Panama opened in 1904.
The Naval Appropriations Act of 1909 created an allowance for the Navy’s own stores, and the service opened its first store in Washington, D.C., in 1910.
In 1918, during World War I, the U.S. Army ran commissaries in France that included mobile stores operating from the back of trucks and carrying goods to the men on the front lines.
When World War II ended in 1945, U.S. military commissaries were operating on every continent except Antarctica in more than 1,000 locations. Before the Defense Commissary Agency, DeCA, was created in 1991, each service had responsibility for running its own commissary program under the following organizations:
· The Navy Ship’s Store Officebegan running Navy commissaries in 1946. It became known as theNavy Resale Support Officein 1969. By 1979, theNavy Resale Services Support Officetook over.
· The Air Force Commissary Service(AFCOMS)was activated in Jan. 1976. Before AFCOMS,the Air Force ran commissaries in 1947, serviced by the Army Quartermaster Corps until 1952, when the Air Force Services Division assumed responsibility.
· The Troop Support Agency (TSA)became the centralized management system for all Army commissaries Feb. 1, 1976.
· Before 1991, theCoast Guard operated "comstores,"consisting of a grocery section inside an exchange operation. Eventually, two of these comstores fell under DeCA's operational control: one located on Governors Island, New York (which closed in 1996), and the other still open at Kodiak, Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands.
· In the 1970s, theMarine Corps Services Divisionran the C=corps’ 12 commissaries.
The Army and Navy ran their commissaries differently in the 1950s and 1960s. For example, the Navy sought to combine its exchanges and commissaries under one roof. When it came to stock assortment, Army stores could sell shampoo, shaving cream, razors, cigarettes and tobacco products, candy, gum and soft drinks, but Navy commissaries did not. Those items were available only in Navy exchanges.
In 1959, the Navy ran commissaries in South Vietnam beginning in Saigon. Eventually, it operated branch stores all over Vietnam to serve U.S. service personnel and their families, along with U.S. news reporters, contract workers and government workers, stationed in South Vietnam. In April 1966, the Army began running the stores in Vietnam.
In 1990, Congress authorized the consolidation of service commissaries under the Defense Commissary Agency, which opened its doors on Oct. 1, 1991.
Today, DeCA continues to serve military members and their families at 235 stores in 13 countries.The agency boosts the value of the benefit through programs such as Commissary CLICK2GO; the Your Everyday Savings (YES!) program, which lowers prices on trending products; Commissary Store Brands that offer quality private label products at significant savings; and dietitian-approved programs to help customers make healthier shopping choices.
Most recently, the Commissary opened up Commissary CLICK2GO® on the GO!delivery program, which will eventually include 178 stores in the continental U.S. by September.
-DeCA-
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees, disabled veterans and other authorized patrons and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which supports the costs of building, modernizing and sustaining commissary facilities. A core military family support element and valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military services and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.