Defense Commissary Agency

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The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that manages nearly 280 grocery establishments on U.S. military installations worldwide.

These stores, called commissaries, function much the same as a typical civilian supermarket in the United States. Goods are sold at cost, plus a five percent surcharge to the total to pay for building maintenance and construction. DeCA states that a family of four can save over 30% or over $2,700 a year on their food purchases by shopping at the commissary. DeCA derived this statistic from cost-of-food figures from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and figures from DeCA's price comparison study, which compares commissary prices with those of local supermarkets, major grocery store chains, and supercenters. Commissaries do not offer items not typically stocked at a civilian supermarket; non-grocery items such as clothing and televisions are instead sold on military installations at a store called an Exchange not under DeCA control. In 2005, DeCA had annual sales of over $5.3 billion [1].

DeCA was activated in 1991 to consolidate the commissary functions previously performed by the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The origins of DeCA are traced to the Second World War, when a rise in black market activity prompted the United States War Department to consider a central office through which goods and services could be provided to deployed servicemembers who would otherwise seek such goods through illegal means^{[citation needed]}. The commissary system in the United States dates back to 1867 when Congress first authorized the Army to sell food items at cost [2].

The Defense Commissary Agency is a civilian agency but does employ United States armed forces personnel for liaison functions, mostly from the Quartermaster and Supply Corps branches of the military services. DeCA also issues a limited series of awards and decorations, the highest of which is the Defense Commissary Agency Distinguished Service Medal.