The Pentagon is looking for commercial retailers to run commissaries on military bases in the latest push to privatize troops’ quality of life.
The Department of Defense wants to see if private commercial grocery operators or investment firms are willing and able to run 178 commissaries at military bases across the U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, according to a Request For Information, or RFI, posted to Sam.gov, the federal government’s website for contract opportunities.
Rob Evans, founder of Hots&Cots, a Yelp-like app for troops to rate and review base dining facilities and housing, said the broader privatization push has historical precedent with housing, but it’s unclear why commissaries are next.
“My understanding: you’re privatizing barracks and you’re privatizing dining facilities because there are these historical challenges. They did it with family housing because the military wanted to get out of that business and it was very challenging. We’re seeing the same kind of pattern with barracks and one could probably argue the same with dining facilities,” he said. “I don’t know what is the net gain here in privatizing commissaries.”
The Defense Commissary Agency runs 235 commissaries in 13 countries and two U.S. territories where nearly 1.8 million households shop each month, according to federal contracting documents.
The RFI notes that commissaries are set up to give military families and civilians working on base savings on household goods and groceries when compared to local prices. However, that hasn’t always been the case.
In 2018, a DoD Inspector General report found that U.S. military families buying from commissaries in Japan and South Korea were charged three times as much for produce compared to local stores. The issue stemmed from a more than $55 million contract to provide fresh fruit and vegetables for the Defense Commissary Agency in the Pacific. The contract saved the Defense Department $38 million, but charged families as much as a 101% markup on green cabbage and an 82% markup on mushrooms.
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The notice asks that private companies respond to the RFI with plans that “deliver 23.7% savings” and assumes no government subsidy. If a subsidy would be required, the RFI response should include an estimate of how much would be needed to meet the savings criteria, according to the documents.
“Traditionally, commissaries have been more affordable for the military members. Outside of post things are usually more expensive,” Evans said. “We all know people in the military aren’t the highest paid people. They use those assets, those resources on post to save money. Now, doing this with investment firms and traditional grocery stores, are we now gonna see price increases with food? That is my concern.”
The RFI notes that the Defense Department is asking for private industry input on how to address the “existing unfunded facilities maintenance backlog” for commissaries with a “one-time industry infrastructure investment of $2.4 billion,” or up to $500 million each year for five years, and an annual maintenance cost of approximately $250 million.
Evans noted that underfunded maintenance backlogs were identified in a damning 2023 Government Accountability Office report on widespread barracks health and safety issues.
“Why were these things so underfunded and not being addressed?” Evans said. “Are we looking for private companies to bail out the [military’s] underfunded facilities management?”
The government uses RFIs to solicit information from the private sector for planning purposes and before the government sets aside money for an official contract. For instance, also this month, the National Guard posted a “sources sought” notice for vendors that could feed troops on the Washington D.C. mission through the end of January.
Privatization push
The commissary notice comes amid a broader push to privatize quality-of-life services in the military, like barracks management and dining halls for junior enlisted soldiers.
“Why are we privatizing everything is kind of my question,” Evans said. “I go back to privatizing housing, and that has had its own challenges.”
Earlier this month, the Army announced the first-ever privatized barracks at Fort Irwin, California, with 276 modern apartment units to house 545 soldiers. The new buildings will have a clubhouse with televisions and a kitchenette, a covered patio, a swimming pool, lounge areas, and landscaped areas. The barracks will be run by The Michaels Organization, a company that has run private military housing on bases since 2004.
The idea of privatizing barracks has been supported by members of Congress who have gone as far as saying they want to get the military services “out of the hotel business.”
The Army has private-run apartment buildings, but they are not strictly built to house single junior enlisted soldiers. Private apartments for soldiers include Reece Crossings at Fort Meade, Maryland, and Marne Point at Fort Stewart, Georgia, both of which also house civilians and dependents, according to Army Installation Command officials.
The Army also has a contract out for a private company to run campus-style dining halls at six bases. Notably, the solicitation described the contract as creating a “revenue-generating” venue and allows the contractor to sell beer and wine products, which would be a new feature for base dining facilities.
The increased focus on privatization, particularly of matters or functions related to feeding and housing junior troops, coincides with a slight restructuring in the Army. The Pentagon office dedicated to housing soldiers, the deputy chief of staff G-9, will be moved under the Army’s G-1, which is in charge of personnel and readiness. That office will also handle base exchange stores. According to service officials, the move isn’t intended to gut support for quality-of-life matters, but consolidate it under a different office.
